c 

Division...^... 

Section. .. 


No, 


SERMONS 


ON   THE 

I 


CHRISTIAN    LIFE 


JOHN  DE  WITT,  D.D 

PROFESSOR  OP  CHURCH   HISTORY,  LANE    THEOLOGICAL 
SEMINARY 


NEW   YORK 

CHARLES  SCRIBNEirS  SONS 

1885 


Copyright, 

1885, 
by  John  De  Witt. 


/ 


v    NOV  '  7  1886    ^ 


PBEFACE. 


The  following  sermons  were  written  and  preached 
when  the  author  was  a  Pastor.  They  are  not  dis- 
cussions of  doctrine ;  they  are  sermons  on  various 
aspects  and  elements  of  human  life.  These  are  treated 
in  their  relations  to  Christianity.  But  the  doctrines 
of  Christianity,  though  not  expounded,  are  implied. 
They  underlie  and  support  each  discourse. 

As  the  sermons  were  prepared,  not  for  publication, 
but  for  delivery  before  the  writer's  congregation, 
their  style  and  language  often  approach  those  of 
familiar  conversation.  In  addressing  his  parishioners, 
a  preacher  feels  that  he  is  at  liberty  to  indulge  in 
abrupt  turns  of  speech,  in  sentences  rhetorically  in- 
complete and  in  repetitions,  which,  in  an  essay,  would 
be  out  of  place.  The  form  of  the  sermon  is  deter- 
mined by  the  relations  of  the  preacher  to  his  audience, 
quite  as  much  as  it  is  by  his  theme. 

Lane  Theological  Seminary. 


CONTENTS. 


Page. 

I.    Man's  danger  in  sudden  and  disappoint- 
ing TRANSITIONS 3 

And  when  they  had  lifted  up  their  eyes,  they  saw 
no  man,  save  Jesus  only. — Matthew  xvii,  8. 

II.     The   persistence  of  the  Christian  char- 
acter      17 

All  the  saints  salute  you,  chiefly  they  that  are  of 
Ceesar's  household. — Philippians  iv,  22. 

III.  The  completion  of  man  in  Christ    ...     31 

And  ye  are  complete  in  Him,  which  is  the  head 
of  all  principality  and  power. — Coi.ossians  ii,  10. 

IV.  The  universality   of  the    Christian   be- 

nevolence   48 

And  let  us  not  he  weary  in  well-doing ;  for  in  due 
season,  we  shall  reap,  if  we  faint  not.  As  we  have 
therefore  opportunity,  let  us  do  good  unto  all  men. 

— GrALATIANS  VI,  9,  10. 

V.     The  Christian  casuistry 62 

I,  therefore,  the  prisoner  of  the  Lord,  beseech  you 
that  ye  walk  worthy  of  the  vocation  wherewith  ye 
are  called. — Epiiesians  iv,  1. 

(v) 


VI  CONTENTS. 

Page. 

VI.   The  gain  of  the  Christian  in  Christ's 

DEPARTURE 83 

Nevertheless,  I  tell  you  the  truth ;  it  is  expe- 
dient for  you,  that  I  go  away. — John  xvi,  7. 

VII.   The  sanctification  of  the  secular  life.     101 

Whether  therefore  you  eat,  or  drink,  or  what- 
soever ye  do,  do  all  to  the  glory  of  God. — I.  Corin- 
thians x,  31. 

VIII.   The  Gospel  a  hope 117 

Blessed  be  the  God  and  Father  of  our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ,  which,  according  to  his  abundant  mercy, 
hath  begotten  us  again  unto  a  lively  hope,  by  the 
resurrection  of  Jesus  Christ  from  the  dead,  to 
an  inheritance  incorruptible,  and  undefined,  and 
that  fadeth  not  away,  reserved  in  heaven  for  you, 
who  are  kept  by  the  power  of  God,  through  faith 
unto  salvation,  ready  to  be  revealed  in  the  last 
time. — I.  Peter  i,  3,  4,  5. 

IX.   The  burden  of  the  body 131 

For  we  that  are  in  this  tabernacle  do  groan, 
being  burdened. — II.  Corinthians  v,  4. 

X.   The  relations  of  religion  and  business.    150 

Not  slothful  in  business;  fervent  in  spirit; 
serving  the  Lord. — Romans  xii,  11. 

XI.   The  value  of  a  religious  atmosphere.     1GG 

And  Saul  went  thither  to  Naioth  in  Ramah; 
and  the  spirit  of  the  Lord  was  on  him  also,  and 
he  went  on,  and  prophesied,  until  he  came  to 
Naioth  in  Ramah. — I.  Samuel  xix,  23. 

XII.   The  cost  of  discipleship 182 

For  which  of  you,  intending  to  build  a  tower, 
sittoth  not  down  first,  and  counteth  the  cost, 
whether  he  have  sufficient  to  finish    it?      Lest 


CONTENTS.  Vll 

Page. 

haply,  after  he  hath  laid  the  foundation,  and  is 
not  able  to  finish  it,  all  that  behold  it  begin  to 
mock  him,  saying,  This  man  began  to  build,  and 
was  not  able  to  finish. — Lcke  xiv,  28,  29,  30. 

XIII.   The  Christian  contentment      .     .     .     199 

I  have  learned  in  whatsoever  state  I  am,  there- 
with to  be  content.  I  know  both  how  to  be 
abased  and  how  to  abound;  everywhere  and  in 
all  things  1  am  instructed  both  to  be  full  and  to 
be  hungry,  both  to  abound  and  to  suffer  need. 
I  can  do  all  things  through  Christ,  which 
strengthened  me. — Puilippians  iv,  11,  12, 13. 

XIY.    The  earthly  life  viewed  from  heaven    215 

Thy  prayers  and  thine  alms  are  come  up 
for  a  memorial  before  God. — Acts  x,  4. 

XV.   The  heavenly  life  viewed  from  earth     230 

Giving  thanks  unto  the  Father,  which  hath 
made  us  meet  to  be  partakers  of  the  inheritance 
of  the  saints  in  light. — Colossians  i,  12. 

XVI.   The  transformation  of  the  outward 

LIFE 244 

Be  ye  transformed  by  the  renewing  of  your 
mind. — Romans  xii,  2. 

XVII.   The  Christian  name     ......     259 

And  the  disciples  were  called  Christians,  first 
at  Antioch. — Acts  xi,  26. 

XVIII.   Christianity  a  religion  of  joy     .     .     275 

These  things  have  I  spoken  unto  you,  that 
my  joy  might  remain  in  you  and  that  your  joy 
might  be  full. — John  xv,  11. 

XIX.   Keeping  in  the  love  of  God     .     .     .     289 

But  ye,  beloved,  building  up  yourselves  on 
your  most  holy  faith,  praying  in  the  Holy  <!host, 


Vlll  CONTENTS. 

Paoe. 

keep  yourselves  in  the  love  of  God,  looking  for 
the  mercy  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  unto  eternal 
life.— Jude,  20,  21. 

XX.   The  light  granted  in  darkness.  .     .     307 

But  all  the  children  of  Israel  had  light  in 
their  dwellings. — Exodus  x,  23. 

XXI.   Praying  the  more  because  doubting.     321 

And  the  multitude  rebuked  them  that  they 
should  hold  their  peace;  but  they  cried  the 
more,  saying,  Have  mercy  on  us,  0  Lord,  thou 
son  of  David. — Matthew  xx,  31. 

XXII.   Casting  anxiety  on  God 336 

Casting  all  your  care  upon  Him ;  for  He  careth 
for  you. — I.  Peter  v,  7. 

XXIII.  The  foundation  and  the  building     .     350 

For  other  foundation  can  no  man  lay  than 
that  is  laid,  which  is  Jesus  Christ.  Now  if  any 
man  build  upon  this  foundation  gold,  silver, 
precious  stones,  wood,  hay,  stubble ;  every  man's 
work  shall  be  made  manifest:  for  the  day  shall 
declare  it,  because  it  shall  be  revealed  by  fire; 
and  the  fire  shall  try  every  man's  work  of  what 
sort  it  is.  If  any  man's  work  abide  which  he 
hath  built  thereupon,  he  shall  receive  a  reward. 
If  any  man's  work  shall  be  burned,  he  shall 
suffer  loss:  but  he  himself  shall  be  saved;  yet 
so  as  by  fire. — I.  Corinthians  iii,  11-15. 

XXIV.  The  reward  of  love 364 

She  hath  done  what  she  could. 

— Mark  xiv,  8. 

XXV.   The  Judgment  of  the  spiritual  man    .    380 

But  he  that  is  spiritual  judgeth  all  things. — 
I.  Corinthians  ii,  15. 


CONTENTS. 


IX 


Page. 

XXVI.  The  relations  of  hope  and  purity  .    393 

And  every  man  that  hath  this  hope  in  him 
purifieth  himself  even  as  he  is  pure. 

— I,  John  iii,  3. 

XXVII.   Christ  a  gift,  not  a  debt   ....    405 

Thanks  he  unto  God  for  his  unspeakable 
gift. — II.  Corinthians  ix,  15. 


SERMONS  ON  THE  CHRISTIAN  LIFE. 


I. 

MAN'S  DANGER  IN  SUDDEN  AND  DISAP- 
POINTING TRANSITIONS. 

And  when  they  had  lifted  up  their  eyes,  they  saw  no  man, 
save  Jesus  only. — Matthew  xvii,  8. 

We  shall  not  discern  the  meaning  of  the  Trans- 
figuration, uuless  we  view  it,  not  merely  as  an  event 
in  the  life  of  Christ,  but  as  an  experience,  also,  of  the 
apostles  who  beheld  it.  Not  for  him  chiefly,  but  for 
them,  was  the  Transfiguration  ordained.  He  was 
never  without  a  sense  of  the  presence  and  approval 
of  God.  His  habitual  communion  with  his  Father 
sustained  Him  throughout  his  ministry.  Not  for 
Him  then,  but  for  his  weak  and  sinful  disciples,  did 
the  heavens  open,  and  celestial  light  fall  upon  the 
Son  of  Man,  and  Moses  and  Elias  talk  of  the  decease 
which  He  should  accomplish,  and  the  Father  again 
acknowledge  his  well-beloved  Son. 

I  shall  not  attempt  to  describe  the  influence  which 
the  entire  experience  exerted  on  the  three  apostles. 
I  confine  myself  to  a  single  point  of  time.  Let  us 
fix  our  attention  upon  them  just  at  the  moment, 
when,  lifting  up  their  eyes,  "they  saw  no  man." 
They  had  been  raised  to  heaven.     Suddenly,  they 

(3) 


4  SERMONS    ON   THE   CHRISTIAN   LIFE. 

found  themselves  on  the  earth.  Instead  of  Moses  and 
Elias,  they  saw  only  the  hard  outline  of  the  mountain. 
Instead  of  the  voice  of  God,  they  heard  only  earthly 
sounds  that  rose  from  the  plain  below.  In  this  sud- 
den and  disappointing  transition,  in  this  violent  ex- 
change of  the  contemplation  of  celestial  glories,  for 
the  contemplation  of  their  prosaic  life  of  labor  and 
sacrifice,  there  was  great  danger  to  character.  It 
would  not  have  been  strange,  had  their  faith  in  Christ 
been  destroyed ;  or,  escaping  this,  had  the  vision  un- 
fitted them  for  the  labors  of  discipleship.  From  each 
of  these  dangers,  they  were  released  only  by  the  sight 
of  their  Lord  after  the  fading  of  the  vision.  Behold- 
ing Him,  they  were  assured  of  the  reality  of  the 
Transfiguration ;  and  they  were  prepared  for  the  re- 
turn to  their  earthly  work.  Here,  then,  behold  their 
danger  and  their  safety  !  "And  when  they  had  lifted 
up  their  eyes,  they  saw  no  man,  save  Jesus  only." 

The  subject,  which  the  text  thus  suggests,  is  one  of 
the  most  important  that  can  engage  our  attention ; — 
the  dangers  arising  from  sudden  and  disappointing 
transitions  in  life:  and  our  only  safety  when  character 
is  menaced  by  them. — The  experience  of  the  apostles 
at  this  point  both  illustrates  and  exemplifies  a  com- 
mon experience  of  us  all.  Their  danger  was  just 
what  ours  is,  and  the  source  of  their  safety  then  is 
the  source  of  our  safety  now. 

I.  That  you  may  see  how  practical  our  subject  is, 
I  ask  you  to  notice  first,  that  such  transition  is  a  fre- 
quent human  experience.  One  of  the  most  common- 
place of  remarks  is  the  remark,  that  change  is  char- 
acteristic of  the  world  and  of  human  life.  Nothing 
seems  stable.  The  solid  earth  is  moving  through 
space  with  almost  incredible  speed,  and  the  form  of 
its  surface  is  forever  changing.     The  histories  of  no 


SUDDEN   AND    DISAPPOINTING    TRANSITIONS.  5 

two  days  are  precisely  similar.  Every  hour  brings 
something  new,  and  almost  every  hour  something 
unsuspected.  Any  one  of  a  hundred  events  may  oc- 
cur at  any  moment,  which,  if  it  shall  occur,  will 
utterly  destroy  our  present  happiness.  We  can  not 
predict  the  time  of  its  occurrence;  and  often,  even 
could  we  predict  it,  we  could  neither  avert  it,  nor 
prepare  ourselves  for  its  shock.  It  is  not  too  much 
to  say,  that  every  change,  which  shall  exert  a  disas- 
trous influence  on  our  happiness,  will  occur  violently, 
like  the  dissipation  of  the  celestial  vision  to  the  en- 
tranced apostles.  "We  live  in  the  enjoyment  of  some 
object;  when,  suddenly,  it  is  removed, and  the  whole 
world  is  dark  to  us.  From  youth  to  latest  age,  and 
in  every  relation  of  life,  we  are  the  prey  of  these  vio- 
lent mutations. 

There  comes,  for  example,  a  time  in  the  life  of 
every  ingenuous  youth,  when,  by  a  single  act  or 
event,  the  spell  of  youth  is  dissipated ;  and  the  world 
in  all  its  hardness  stands  before  the  opened  eyes  of 
manhood.  There  are  cases,  no  doubt,  in  which  this 
disenchantment  is  gradual  and  expected;  but  oftener, 
perhaps,  it  is  violent  and  unheralded.  To  a  family, 
whose  members  are  living  in  the  enjoyment  of  each 
other,  comes  the  hand  of  God,  sundering  those  who 
compose  it.  The  father  falls  suddenly  in  death,  and 
the  boy  sees  no  one  between  him  and  the  world. 
Life,  which  before  seemed  one  long  play,  now  re- 
veals itself  as  a  severe  and  long  continued  task,  de- 
manding labor  and  courage  and  vigilance.  By  as 
much  as  the  world  was  transfigured  in  the  light  of 
his  father's  household  life,  by  so  much  is  he  unpre- 
pared for  the  world  in  which  he  is  now  called  to  light 
his  way  alone.  The  transition  from  the  home  life  of 
youth — where  every  thing  is  transformed  in  the  light 


6  SERMONS    ON    TIIE    CHRISTIAN    LIFE. 

of  a  father's  or  a  mother's  love,  where  the  only  proph- 
ecy of  the  world's  friendliness  is  a  brother's  or  a 
sister's  affection,  where  rough  paths  are  made  smooth, 
and  hard  tasks  made  easy — the  transition,  I  say,  from 
such  a  life  to  the  life  of  toil  and  combat,  is  often  as 
sudden  and  disappointing  as  that  in  the  minds  of 
the  apostles,  when,  lifting  up  their  eyes,  they  saw 
no  man.  And  the  point  of  time  at  which  the  vision 
vanishes  is  one  of  great  and  special  peril. 

Or  think  of  another  experience  more  nearly  univer- 
sal ; — the  experience  of  bereavement.  We  are  never 
prepared  for  it.  However  frequently  and  distinctly  we 
may  have  been  warned,  the  departure  of  one  whom  we 
have  loved  is  at  the  last  sudden  and  violent.  We  bear 
ourselves  up  until  the  latest  moment.  We  summon 
all  our  powers  to  aid  us  in  holding  by  the  illusive 
hopes  we  cherish,  but  dare  not  utter  for  their  wild- 
ness.  We  take  refuge  in  our  imagination.  We 
compose  ourselves  to  dream  of  what  might  be,  if 
the  destroyer's  hand  could  be  averted;  when,  sud- 
denly, our  reverie  is  broken  by  the  return  to  God  of 
the  spirit  that  had  transfigured  our  lives,  and  our 
whole  being  is  shocked  by  the  violence  of  the  experi- 
ence. Who,  that  has  been  subjected  to  such  a  trial, 
does  not  know,  how  hard  it  is  to  realize  the  approach 
of  Death,  until  suddenly  and  rudely  his  presence  is 
made  known?  Such  a  moment  is  one  of  great  spir- 
itual peril,  and  may  easily  become  the  crisis  which 
shall  determine  spiritual  destiny. 

Or  take  another  case;  and  all  of  us  know  how 
common  such  cases  are.  Year  after  year  a  man  gives 
himself  thoroughly  to  business.  Every  thing  contrib- 
utes to  his  success.  Whatever  he  touches  turns  to 
gold.  His  success  transfigures  the  world.  lie  rejoices 
that  he  lives,  and,  like  Peter  on  the  mount,  would 


SUDDEN    AND    DISAPPOINTING    TRANSITIONS.  7 

make  a  tabernacle  to  abide  here  indefinitely.  But 
suddenly,  the  storm  of  financial  disaster  darkens 
his  firmament  and  bursts  upon  him  unprepared. 
You,  who  have  known  men  so  overtaken,  know,  too 
well  for  me  to  describe  it,  what  danger  to  character, 
to  faith,  to  hope,  to  love  of  God  and  man,  impends 
over  the  soul  in  such  an  hour.  The  transfiguration 
is  passed ;  and  he  lifts  up  his  eyes  like  the  apostles, 
in  darkness  and  the  chill  of  night,  on  the  hard  and 
rocky  mountain. 

That  I  may  not  fail  to  appeal  to  the  experience  of 
all  before  me,  I  turn  to  the  religions  life.  There  are 
many,  whose  consciousness  of  the  possibility  of  their 
spiritual  destruction  slumbers  for  years.  For  the 
spiritual  world,  because  invisible,  is  by  most  men 
thought  of  as  a  distant,  and,  to  them,  largely  an  un- 
related world.  And  so  it  is,  that  many  live  as  though 
this  world  were  all ;  as  though  God  had  not  asserted 
that  we  shall  see  Him  face  to  face ;  as  though  life 
and  immortality  had  not  been  brought  to  light  in 
the  gospel  of  his  Son.  But,  suddenly,  a  sermon,  the 
voice  of  a  friend,  some  one  or  other  feeble  human  in- 
strument is  mighty  with  divine  power,  and  seems,  as 
to  such  a  man  it  is  indeed,  the  voice  of  God.  He 
awakes  to  the  reality  of  a  spiritual  world,  as  near  to 
him  as  the  Omnipresent  God;  eternal  in  its  relations; 
and  far  more  commanding  in  its  behests  than  even 
the  present  world  before  appeared  to  him.  The 
earth,  which  an  hour  ago  was  magnified  and  trans- 
figured, now  shrinks  to  its  true  proportions  and  loses 
all  its  splendor.  He  is  aroused  and  convicted.  And 
though  it  is  true,  that  such  arousal  is  a  prerequisite 
to  his  redemption;  it  is  also  true,  that  because  of 
the  violence  of  the  arousal,  his  soul  is  in  great  dan- 
ger; and  not  salvation  only,  but   destruction,  is  at 


8  SERMONS    ON    THE    CHRISTIAN   LIFE. 

hand.  It  was  when  Judas  was  thus  aroused,  that  he 
went  out  from  the  presence  of  the  priests  and  hanged 
himself. 

Let  me  refer  to  but  one  other  example.  And  here 
I  address  professing  Christians.  There  are  those  in 
the  Church  of  Christ,  whose  Christianity  expends 
itself  in  enraptured  contemplation  of  the  spiritual 
privileges,  which  God  has  conferred  on  them  through 
his  Son.  This  is  no  uncommon  perversion  of  re- 
ligion. Nor  is  the  perversion  unnatural.  It  is  one 
which  the  pulpit  has  at  times  promoted.  It  has 
never  been  absent  from  the  Church.  On  the  mount 
of  Transfiguration  itself,  the  apostle  Peter,  overjoyed 
before  the  glorified  Christ  and  the  vision  of  prophets, 
cried:  "Lord,  it  is  good  to  abide  here;"  not  knowing 
what  he  said.  Like  him,  there  are  men  and  women 
to-day,  disposed  to  revel  in  religious  joys.  The  glory, 
which  they  discern  on  the  mount  of  spiritual  privilege, 
hides  the  wretchedness  of  the  world  below  them. 
But  suddenly  the  vision  fades.  And,  just  as  the  apos- 
tles were  made  to  see  and  hear  once  more  the  world 
beneath  them,  so  these  are  made  to  hear  their 
fellows'  cry  for  help; — a  cry  calling  them  from 
religious  enjoyment  to  service  and  sacrifice.  I  need 
not  stop  to  tell  you,  with  how  severe  a  strain  on 
the  distinctively  religious  feelings,  this  summons 
must  be  attended;  or  how  perilous  the  strain  may  be 
to  religious  faith  itself.  I  must  believe,  that  many  a 
man  has  first  learned  to  doubt  the  reality  of  all  com- 
munion with  God;  when  called  to  leave  the  mount 
on  which  the  Lord  displays  his  glory,  and  to  engage 
in  work  and  burden-bearing  for  his  fellow  men. 

II.  I  gather  these  examples  of  sudden  and  disap- 
pointing transition,  from  widely  differing  circum- 
stances ;  that  you  may  the  better  see,  that  I  am  speak- 


SUDDEN    AND    DISAPPOINTING    TRANSITIONS.  9 

ing  of  no  strange  experience.  In  attempting,  there- 
fore, to  describe  the  spiritual  ■perils  of  the  experience — 
which  I  now  proceed  to  do, — I  shall  be  referring  to 
evils,  from  whose  menace  no  one  of  us  is  exempt. 

There  are  two  of  these  perils.  Both  do  not  attack 
the  same  person.  But  if  one's  temperament  is  such 
that  he  escapes  the  first,  he  will  not  escape  the 
second. 

The  first,  that  I  mention,  is  the  danger  of  skepticism: 
using  that  term  in  a  wider  sense,  than  the  technical 
sense  in  which  we  so  often  employ  it.  These  sudden 
disenchantments  are  often  followed  by  a  denial  of  God's 
love,  or  of  human  happiness,  or  of  the  possibility  of 
human  goodness.  Man,  when  rudely  awakened  from 
a  long  dream  of  perpetual  bliss,  is  prone  to  doubt 
all  goodness  and  happiness.  Had  Christ  vanished 
with  Moses  and  Elias,  who  does  not  know,  that  Peter, 
at  least,  would  have  become  at  once,  skeptical  of  his 
Lord's  Messianic  claims;  and  would  have  become  at 
last,  a  bitter  and  hopeless  Sadducee? 

To  make  my  meaning  clear,  let  me  refer  briefly  to 
two  of  the  illustrations  already  used.  I  will  take 
the  case  of  the  boy,  around  whom  have  been  thrown 
all  the  safeguards  of  a  Christian  home.  Goodness 
and  truth  are  embodied  in  his  father,  as  he  beholds 
him.  Quite  naturally,  he  looks  upon  his  father,  as  a 
representative  of  the  men  whom  he  will  meet  in  the 
world.  Suddenly, he  is  thrown  into  it;  and  this  vision 
of  his  young  life  is  destroyed.  What  is  the  danger  that 
besets  him,  but  that  he  will  become  utterly  skeptical 
of  all  manly  honor  and  human  goodness?  I  am 
sure,  that  young  men  are  often  dwarfed  and  embit- 
tered by  this  very  process.  "When  a  man  has  thus 
become  skeptical  of  human  goodness,  he  has  moved 
lio  slight  distance  from  the  point  to  which  he  must 


10  SERMONS    ON    THE    CHRISTIAN    LIFE. 

return,  if  he  is  ever  to  know  what  growth  into  the 
stature  of  the  perfect  man  means.  Believe  me,  friends, 
you  do  well  to  be  anxious,  as  you  think  of  this  tran- 
sition, which,  one  day,  must  be  the  lot  of  those  whom 
God  has  given  you.  There  is  a  point  in  every  man's 
life,  at  which  his  greatest  peril  attacks  him.  And  I 
know  no  peril,  at  once  more  insidious  and  more  ter- 
rible, than  this  peril  of  a  skepticism  of  the  possibility 
of  lofty  character,  which  so  often  encounters  one  as  he 
stands  on  the  threshold  of  manhood. 

Let  us  turn  to  another  case.  How  many  events 
within  the  past  three  years,*  have  made  us  feel  the 
truth  of  the  words  of  Israel's  wise  king :  "  Riches 
certainly  make  to  themselves  wings,  they  fly  away  as 
an  eagle  toward  heaven!"  Every  one,  experiencing 
this  violent  sweep  from  affluence  to  comparative  want, 
is  in  great  danger.  Ko  one,  who  has  observed  the 
influence  of  such  a  transition  on  personal  character, 
can  have  failed  to  notice  the  strong  tendency  to  this 
skepticism  both  of  divine  and  of  human  goodness  of 
which  I  have  spoken.  As  their  wealth  is  swept 
away,  men  are  prone  to  grow  unbelieving,  unchari- 
table, and  bitter.  Their  first  impulse  is  to  return, 
for  adversity,  disbelief  and  cynical  contempt  and 
scorn.  And  so  spring  up  the  fearful  brood  of  spirit- 
ual vices — envy,  malice,  and  all  un charitableness — 
which  have  destroyed  how  many  souls,  we  shall  learn 
only  at  the  consummation  of  all  things. 

Did  time  permit,  I  could  go  through  the  whole 
catalogue  of  these  violent  disenchantments:  and  show 
how  mighty  in  each  case  is  the  temptation  to  give 
one's  self  up  to  this  terrible  unbelief:  than   which, 

*  Preached,  Central  Church,  Boston,  1874.  In  1871  occurred 
the  Chicago  fire;  in  1872  the  Boston  fire;  in  1873  the  financial 
panic. 


SUDDEN   AND    DISAPPOINTING    TRANSITIONS.  11 

it  is  not  possible  to  conceive  a  more  powerful  enemy 
of  whatever  of  the  godlike  remains  in  man.  I  wish 
that  I  knew  the  words,  best  suited  to  create  a 
profound  conviction  of  the  peril  of  this  evil.  I 
fear  that  many  regard  the  evil  as  for  the  most  part 
imaginary.  For  we  are  so  constituted,  as  to  be  more 
easily  excited  by  the  danger  of  palpable  physical 
sins,  than  by  the  danger  of  those  spiritual  evils,  which 
attack  character  directly.  But  if  there  is  one  truth, 
that  the  great  Teacher  taught  distinctly;  it  is  the 
truth,  that  the  peril  from  these  inner  vices  is  greater, 
and  more  to  be  dreaded,  than  slavery  to  physical  pas- 
sions. For  the  publicans  and  the  sinners,  there  was 
more  hope,  in  Christ's  view,  than  for  those,  who  were 
blinded,  by  any  cause,  to  the  possibility  of  a  lofty  spir- 
itual life.  There  may  be  little  need  of  declaiming,  from 
the  pulpit,  against  open  and  flagrant  crimes,  which  so- 
ciety, for  its  protection,  denounces  in  its  statute-books.  *--» 
But  here  is  a  peril  of  a  far  greater  evil,  which  human 
laws  can  not  mention  :  and  yet  a  peril  from  which  we 
can  never  be  free,  while  in  this  world  of  disap- 
pointing change: — the  peril  of  losing  our  spiritual 
life  through  unbelief  in  the  divine  love  or  human 
holiness.  Again  and  again  it  happens,  that  the 
world  is  transfigured  to  our  vision,  and  seems  to  glow 
with  celestial  radiance;  and  we  could  live  forever 
rejoicing  in  its  glory.  But,  suddenly,  we  lift  up 
our  eyes,  and  see  only  that  the  vision  has  faded. 
Then  comes  the  terrible  temptation  to  unbelief  in 
all  happiness  and  goodness  alike;  to  doubt  the  love 
of  the  Father;  to  deny  his  Son;  to  live  without  God 
and  without  hope  in  the  world;  and  so  to  wreck  all 
hope  of  higher  lives  than  those  we  live.  I  tremble 
for  myself,  I  tremble  for  all  of  us,  when  I  think  of 
the  many  methods,  in  which  this  temptation  assails 


12  SERMONS    ON    THE    CHRISTIAN    LIFE. 

us.  For  I  see  in  our  yielding  to  it,  the  beginning 
of  that  awful  end,  which  the  Bible  calls  the  second 
death. 

There  are  those,  undoubtedly,  whom  this  evil  does 
not  seriously  threaten.  But  if  they  escape  it,  they 
are  menaced  by  another;  less  terrible,  indeed,  at  firel 
sight;  but  not  less  fatal,  when  unsuccessfully  resisted, 
to  the  development  of  lofty  spiritual  character.  This 
ie  the  danger  of  despair.  To  understand  this  second 
peril,  let  us  turn  to  the  narrative  again.  Suppose 
that  the  Lord  had  faded  from  their  view  with  Moses 
and  Elias.  Peter  would  have  gone  down  into  the 
world,  believing  that  Jesus  had  deceived  him.  He 
would  have  turned  back  to  Judaism,  hardened  in 
heart  and  a  Sadducee  in  faith.  But  on  John,  it  seems 
to  me,  the  effect  would  have  been  different.  The 
beloved  disciple  would  have  become  no  skeptic;  but, 
losing  Christ,  he  would  have  been  in  despair;  and 
the  remainder  of  his  life  would  have  been  lost  in 
useless  retrospect.  He  would  have  lived  forever  in 
the  past.  The  blessing,  which  he  enjoyed  on  the 
mount,  would  have  unfitted  him  for  a  life  of  labor 
among  men.  And,  thus,  he  becomes  an  illustration 
of  the  other  peril,  attendant  on  these  sudden  and 
violent  transitions.  If  one's  faith  is  so  deeply  rooted, 
that  they  do  not  harden  his  heart  and  destroy  his 
faith  in  goodness  and  in  God,  they  imperil  hope; 
they  tend  to  unfit  the  soul  for  activity;  to  compel 
a  life  of  musing  on  the  past,  and  of  discourage- 
ment for  the  future.  Have  we  not  seen  men  and 
women,  who,  though  not  embittered  by  a  sudden 
visitation  of  God,  have  still  been  undone  by  it; 
have  lost  all  hope,  all  spiritual  ambition,  and  have 
given  overall  struggle  after  better  things,  in  despair? 
God  has   come   into    a  household    and   taken   from 


SUDDEN    AND    DISAPPOINTING    TRANSITIONS.  13 

a  mother's  arms  a  little  one  whose  presence  had 
transfigured  her  life.  That  child  had  made  the 
world  more  beautiful  and  life  more  blessed.  But 
suddenly  God  called  it  to  himself.  Do  I  describe  an 
unusual  case  when  I  say,  that  though  the  affliction 
has  not  embittered  her,  or  made  her  skeptical,  the 
light  of  her  life  has  gone,  and  she  lives  henceforth 
in  the  past  alone.  She  is  fitted  for  no  service;  she 
is  a  burden  to  herself;  she  finds  no  joy  in  relief  of 
others;  she  strives  no  longer  after  a  higher  life.  All 
is  gone,  in  the  sudden  and  downward  sweep  from 
happiness  to  grief  which  God  appointed. 

But  I  will  not  add  examples.  The  subject  is  one 
of  which  every  day  and  every  condition  of  life  is  full 
of  illustration.  My  one  endeavor  has  been  to  place 
clearly  before  you  the  dangers  to  character  in  these 
violent  but  frequent  changes.  Believe  me,  when  I 
say  again,  that  whichever  danger  attacks  you,  it  is 
a  peril  threatening  every  thing  that  is  best  in  you. 
Because  it  is  distinctively  a  spiritual  peril,  and  so  not 
easily  described,  it  is  not  less  to  be  feared.  Bather, 
on  this  account,  you  ought  to  be  the  more  vigilant. 
The  evil,  whose  danger  besets  you  in  the  circum- 
stances I  have  described,  is  subtle,  and  therefore  de- 
ceitful. It  is  to  be  dreaded  the  more,  because  it 
imperils,  not  the  body  directly,  but  that  which  is  of 
infinitely  higher  value,  the  immortal  spirit. 

III.  And  thus  we  arc  brought,  finally  to  consider,  the 
soul's  safety  in  the  midst  of  these  dangers.  "And  when 
they  had  lifted  up  their  eyes,  they  saw  no  man,  save 
Jesus  only" 

The  danger,  which  for  an  instant  beset  Peter,  was 
that  he  would  become  skeptical ;  and  would  go  down 
from  the  mountain  to  the  world,  hardened  and  un- 
believing; thinking  the  Messiahship  of  his  Lord  a 


14  SERMONS    ON    THE    CHRISTIAN    LIFE. 

delusion.  What  saved  him;  but  that  the  Christ,  who 
was  the  central  figure  in  the  celestial  vision,  remained 
when  the  vision  had  passed?  Moses  and  Elias  van- 
ished. The  light  of  heaven  faded.  The  voice  of  the 
Father  was  no  longer  heard.  But  the  Lord  remained. 
And,  the  Lord  remaining,  the  new  kingdom  of  God 
was,  thenceforth,  to  the  apostle  a  reality.  With 
the  Lord  remaining,  it  was  possible  even  for  Peter  to 
go  down  from  the  mount  of  glory  to  the  hard, 
dull  life  of  labor  in  the  world  below.  John,  too, 
having  the  Lord  with  him,  did  not  live  thereafter 
simply  in  regretful  recollection  of  the  heavenly  vis- 
ion ;  but,  strengthened  by  the  glory  he  had  beheld, 
engaged  with  new  ardor  in  the  work  of  his  Lord's 
disciple. 

And  so,  friends,  will  it  be  with  us.  There  must 
be  changes  in  our  several  lives.  In  the  world  we 
shall  have  tribulation.  To-day  all  may  be  bright  in 
our  several  households.  To-morrow  all  may  be  dark- 
ness. As  you  view  it  now,  the  world  may  be  so 
transfigured,  that  it  seems  cruel  that  God  has  ap- 
pointed all  men  to  die.  But  to-morrow,  the  world 
may  be  so  full  of  gloom,  that  it  will  appear  cruel, 
that  God  does  not  send  death  as  a  relief  to  your  soul. 
We  place  our  affections  upon  an  object,  and,  in  our 
enjoyment  of  it,  the  world  becomes  almost  heaven. 
Then  comes  the  hand  of  the  hidden  God  and  takes  it 
from  us.  We  lift  up  our  eyes  :  and  lo !  our  night  has 
come.  What  do  we  need,  but  One,  who  will  be 
central  in  the  vision,  while  the  world  is  radiant  with 
celestial  light;  and  who  will  abide  still,  when,  lifting 
up  our  eyes,  we  can  discern  only  that  the  light  has 
gone?  This  is  man's  only  safety.  The  Lord  was  the 
central  personage  in  this  wondrous  vision  on  the 
mountain.    And  the  same  Lord  remained  to  the  disci- 


SUDDEN    AND    DISAPPOINTING    TRANSITIONS.  15 

pies  when  the  light  was  withdrawn,  and  Moses  and 
Elias  were  caught  up  into  heaven. 

Behold,  then,  the  only  security  for  the  immortal 
spirit.  In  this  fickle,  changing,  disappointing  life 
in  which  we  are  ever  the  victims  of  new  illusions;  in 
which  grief  always  follows  fast  after  joy;  and  pros- 
perity and  adversity  alternate  as  swiftly  almost  as 
sunshine  and  rain  on  an  April  day;  in  this  life,  in 
which  all  objects  are  now  bathed  and  transfigured  in 
celestial  light,  and  are  now  enshrouded  with  unearthly 
gloom; — our  hearts  demand  One,  who  will  worthily 
call  forth  our  supreme  devotion  ;  and  who  will  remain 
the  same  amid  all  alternations.  There  must  be  a 
divine  object  of  faith,  when  human  objects  of  confi- 
dence have  been  shaken :  else  faith  will  die.  The 
spirit  must  possess  an  all-including  and  eternal  hope, 
that  will  flourish  when  special  and  temporal  hopes 
have  decayed:  else  hope  will  die.  An  object  of  su- 
preme love  must  remain  to  man,  when  objects  of 
lower  affection  have  been  wrested  from  him  by  death : 
else  love  will  die.  And  in  the  death  of  faith  and 
hope  and  love  is  involved  the  spiritual  destruction 
of  man. 

Therefore,  as  announcing  the  complete  provision, 
which  God  has  made  for  your  eternal  safety,  do  I 
proclaim  Jesus  Christ:  the  same  yesterday,  to-day, 
and  forever:  abiding  amid  all  losses,  and  unchanging 
amid  all  changes.  The  joy  that  is  in  Christ,  is  the 
only  joy  which  time  and  disaster  neither  destroy  nor 
impair.  The  divine  Friend  alone  is  present  with 
power  to  the  trusting  soul,  when  earthly  friends 
have  vanished  from  our  sight;  as  Moses  and  Elias 
vanished  from  the  sight  of  the  apostles.  Wealth 
and  honor  and  power, — all  the  positions  and  posses- 
sions  for  which  men   strive,  because  they  have  the 


16  SERMONS   ON    THE    CHRISTIAN    LIFE. 

power  to  transfigure  the  world, — who  does  not  know, 
how  easily  and  suddenly  they  escape  us,  like  the 
vision  on  the  mountain,  and  leave  us  in  the  darkness 
of  skepticism  or  despair? 

Your  peril  is  imminent.  Its  sources  are  legion.  It 
is  a  peril  of  destruction.  We  call  you,  therefore,  to 
look  to  Him,  and  live  in  Him,  and  make  Him  central 
in  every  vision  of  joy  or  faith  or  hope,  who  will 
abide,  when  the  vision  shall  have  passed  away. 
This  is  the  meaning  of  faith  in  Christ.  Let  us  learn 
its  divine  power  by  its  exercise.  Let  the  life,  that 
we  live  in  the  flesh,  be  lived  by  the  faith  of  the  Son 
of  God.  Let  every  power  be  given  to  Him,  who  is 
the  source  of  all  power.  Let  every  blessing  be  asso- 
ciated with  Him,  in  whom  all  blessings  meet  and  from 
whom  all  flow.  These  blessings  will  come  like  heav- 
enly visitors.  Like  them,  also,  they  will  often  vanish 
suddenly  from  our  sight ;  and  leave  us  in  darkness, 
and  desolate.  And  yet  not  desolate.  For  when  these 
have  gone,  He  who  is  all  in  all  will  still  abide.  Lift- 
ing up  our  eyes,  if  we  see  Him  only,  we  shall  still 
see  Him.  And  beholding  Him,  in  whom  are  all  the 
riches  of  the  love  of  God,  we  shall  neither  disbe- 
lieve nor  be  dismayed. 


n. 

THE  PERSISTENCE  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN 
CHARACTER 

AH  the  saints  salute  you,  chiefly  they  that  are  of  Caesar's 
household. — Philippians  iv,  22. 

These  words  are  found  at  the  close  of  the  most 
affectionate  and  familiar  letter  of  the  Apostle  Paul: — 
the  letter  written  from  Rome  to  the  Church  at  Phil- 
ippi.  This  friendly  message  fills  a  place  in  the  letter 
so  appropriately,  that  I  need  take  no  time  to  explain 
its  presence.  I  have  selected  it  as  my  text  because  it 
contains  a  theme  of  the  deepest  interest.  This  theme 
is  the  persistence  of  Christianity :  in  life,  in  labor,  and  in 
love. 

Scarcely  less  interesting  than  the  theme  itself,  are 
the  completeness  and  vividness  of  its  presentation  in 
the  text.  For  the  text  presents  it  in  three  beautiful 
and  encouraging  pictures,  each  one  of  which  contains 
a  striking  contrast.  The  first  is  a  picture  of  the 
Christian  life,  persisting  in  its  development  in  the 
most  unfavorable  environment.  "Saints  of  God  in 
the  household  of  Caesar."  The  second  is  a  picture  of 
Christian  labor,  persisting  in  its  successes  against  the 
greatest  discouragements.    Paul  winning  converts  in 

(17) 


18  SERMONS    ON    THE    CHRISTIAN    LIFE. 

"the  household  of  Cscsar,"  though  Paul  was  a  pris- 
oner, chained  to  a  Roman  soldier.  And  the  third 
is  a  picture  of  Christian  love,  persisting  in  its  out- 
flow against  the  obstacles  of  absence  and  distance. 
The  saints  in  Csesar's  household  at  Rome  saluting 
saints,  across  the  Mediterranean  and  ^Egean  seas,  in 
Philippi  of  Macedonia.  We  shall  best  unfold  the 
theme,  by  studying  the  pictures  in  which  it  is 
presented.  And,  better  still,  we  shall  thus,  I  trust, 
encourage  our  own  spirits  in  Christian  living,  toil, 
and  charity. 

I.  First,  therefore,  let  us  study  this  picture  of  the 
Christian  life,  persisting  in  the  most  unfavorable  sur- 
roundings. "  Saints  of  God  in  the  household  of 
Cresar." 

It  must  not  be  forgotten,  that  the  Caesar  of  the 
text  was  the  most  cruel  and  the  most  abandoned  of 
the  tyrants,  who  wore  the  imperial  purple,  as  entitled 
to  that  mighty  but  dishonored  name.  "  The  criminal 
weakness  of  Claudius,  the  dark  misanthropy,  the 
tiger-like  cruelty,  the  wild  voluptuousness  of  Ti- 
berius, and  the  horrible  madness  of  Caligula  were 
all  repeated,  in,"  what  an  historian,  not  given  to  su- 
perlative expressions,  calls,  "the  bottomless  vilcness 
of  the  arch-tyrant  Nero:  who  practiced  unnatural 
vices  with  the  most  shocking  shamelessness;  who,  in 
sheer  wantonness,  set  fire  to  Rome  and  then  burnt  in- 
nocent Christians  for  it  as  torches  in  his  gardens; 
who  either  poisoned  with  his  own  hand,  or  murdered 
by  the  hands  of  accomplices,  his  preceptors  Burrus 
and  Seneca,  his  mistress,  his  mother,  and  his  wife; 
and  finally,  supported  by  a  servant,  stabbed  himself, 
exclaiming:  *  What  an  artist  dies  in  me.*" 

It  would  be  difficult  to  find  expressions  strong 
enough,  adequately  to  describe  the  debasement  of  the 


PERSISTENCE    OF    THE    CHRISTIAN    CHARACTER.        19 

Roman  populace  during  his  reign.  No  later  historian 
has  said  worse  things  of  any  age  and  people  than  has 
Tacitus  of  his  own  people  during  Nero's  reign.  And 
no  moralist  has  portrayed  vice  in  darker  lines,  than 
those,  in  which  the  Stoic  Seneca,  portrays  the  condi- 
tion of  the  capital  and  the  empire  during  the  life  of 
this  monarch.  "All  is  full  of  outrage  and  vice.  A 
monstrous  prize  contest  of  wickedness  is  being  en- 
acted. The  desire  to  sin  increases,  and  shame  de- 
creases every  day.  Crime  is  no  longer  practiced  se- 
cretly, but  in  open  view.  Vileness  gains  on  all  the 
streets  and  in  every  breast;  so  that  innocence  has 
become,  not  only  rare,  but  altogether  extinct."  We 
shudder — and  well  we  may — as  we  read  the  descrip- 
tion of  mankind,  in  the  first  chapter  of  this  Apostle's 
epistle  to  the  Romans.  But  none  knew  better  than 
those  to  whom  it  was  addressed,  the  correctness  of 
the  description ;  for  they  were  compelled  to  see  its 
confirmation  in  the  daily  life  of  their  great  and  wicked 
city.  And  to  appreciate  the  details  of  this  dark 
picture  of  the  capital,  we  must  remember,  that  the 
vice  of  the  populace  was  not  more  the  cause,  than  it 
was  the  effect  of  the  vice  at  the  imperial  palace.  It 
was  not  more  the  case,  that  Nero  and  his  attendants 
were  vitiated  by  the  degradation  of  the  populace;  than 
it  was,  that  the  populace  were  vitiated  by  the  degra- 
dation of  the  emperor.  The  "household  of  Caesar" 
was  the  horrid  fountain,  from  which  issued  the 
streams,  which  justified  the  mournful  description  of 
the  Stoic  philosopher,  and  the  darker  picture  painted 
by  the  Christian  Apostle. 

Nothing  more  need  be  said,  to  bring  vividly  before 
us  the  contrast,  contained  in  the  first  picture  suggested 
by  the  text.  "All  the  saints  salute  you,  chiefly  they 
that  are  of  Caesar's  household."     In  this  "household 


20  SERMONS    ON    THE    CHRISTIAN   LIFE. 

of  C?esar,"  there  were  saints  of  the  living  God.  At 
the  very  center  of  this  corrupt  life  of  imperial  Rome, 
lived  examples  of  a  life,  whose  pattern  and  inspi- 
ration were  the  Man  who  was  holy,  harmless,  unde- 
nted and  separate  from  sinners.  What  a  contrast  is 
here!  A  bright  star,  sending  golden  light  through 
a  single  rift  in  a  clouded  and  angry  firmament;  a 
fountain  of  living  and  refreshing  water,  springing 
up  in  the  midst  of  an  arid  desert; — these  are  its  ap- 
propriate symbols. 

The  great  truth,  which  this  picture  at  once  recalls 
to  our  attention,  is  the  truth,  that  the  Christian  life 
is  not  dependent  on  any  particular  circumstances  for 
its  being  or  for  its  development.  Deriving  its  power 
to  be  and  to  grow  from  a  source  superior  to  circum- 
stance, it  can  flourish  as  well  in  the  household  of 
Ceesar,  as  in  the  church  at  Philippi.  I  do  not  assert 
that  its  surroundings  will  not  determine  its  expres- 
sion. That  would  be  to  deny  what  is  obvious  to 
every  observer  of  the  development  of  human  charac- 
ter. It  must  be,  that  the  type  of  Christian  life, 
molded  in  the  presence  of  vice  and  crime  so  open 
and  so  flagrant,  as  those  which  made  the  palace  of 
Nero  a  hell  on  earth,  will  differ  widely  from  the  type 
of  Christian  life,  formed  within  the  walls  of  a  Chris- 
tian home.  But  I  do  say,  that  the  life  itself — and 
this  is  the  teaching  of  the  text — can  exist,  and  in- 
crease in  both  vigor  and  beauty,  whatever  its  sur- 
roundings, however  full  of  temptation  or  of  crime. 

And  to  bring  this  truth  into  practical  relation  to 
our  own  live*,  let  me  refer  to  a  tendency,  often 
observed  by  us  in  others,  and  doubtless  often  felt  by 
us  all :  the  tendency  to  charge  our  lack  of  growth  in 
goodness,  not  to  our  own  indisposition,  but  to  the 
character  of  the  life  which  encompasses  us.     It  is  too 


PERSISTENCE    OF    THE    CHRISTIAN    CHARACTER.         21 

often  the  case,  that  we  refer  our  imperfect,  dwarfed 
and  unlovely  Christian  character,  to  the  business  or 
the  daily  duties  to  which  the  providence  of  God  has 
assigned  us.  It  is  true,  that  Christian  living  is  a 
hard  and  continuous  struggle,  in  whatever  station  a 
man  is  placed.  Each  station  has  its  peculiar  trials 
and  temptations:  and  these  no  doubt  will  give  form 
to  Christian  development.  But  each  of  us,  seeing 
the  troubles  that  surround  his  own  life,  and  that  tend 
to  hinder  his  own  growth  in  goodness,  and,  forget- 
ting that  every  other  man  has  troubles  to  hinder  his, 
is  prone  to  say,  "If  only  the  circumstances  of  my 
life  had  been  other  than  they  are,  I  might  have  been 
a  better,  more  devoted  man." 

This  tendency  is  not  confined  to  Christian  living. 
It  is  one  of  the  evidences  of  a  dissatisfaction  that 
is  as  universal  as  humanity.  Every  man  is  con- 
vinced, that  he  would  have  been  better  or  happier 
in  different  circumstances.  A  Latin  poet  most 
happily  hits  off  this  conviction  in  his  most  familiar 
satire.  "How  happens  it,"  he  writes,  "that  no  one 
can  live  contented  with  the  lot  which  either  reason 
has  assigned  him,  or  chance  has  thrown  in  his  way; 
but  must  extol  those  following  other  pursuits?  'Oh, 
fortunate  merchants!'  says  the  soldier,  oppressed 
with  years  and  broken  by  the  labor  of  many  a  hard- 
fought  battle.  '  Oh,  happy  soldiers ! '  cries  the  mer- 
chant, as  the  south-west  winds  are  tossing  about  his 
laden  ships ;  '  for  in  their  case  an  engagement  is  be- 
gun, and  in  one  short  hour  comes  relief  of  death  or 
a  joyful  victory.'  The  lawyer,  vexed  with  the  cares 
of  his  many  clients,  praises  the  quiet  of  the  farmer's 
life;  and  the  farmer,  called  by  his  business  to  the 
town,  proclaims  only  those  happy  who  dwell  within 
the  bustling  city's  walls."     And  Horace's  picture  is 


22  SERMONS    ON    TIIE    CHRISTIAN   LIFE. 

exactly  true.  So  it  is  in  all  life.  So  it  is  in  the 
Christian  life.  "If  my  home  life  were  only  differ- 
ent; or  if  my  business  were  not  so  filled  with 
temptations;  or  if  more  opportunities  for  Christian 
culture  were  given  me;  or  if  I  had  more  time  for 
prayer,  or  more  money  for  benevolence,  or  more 
talent  for  religious  work,  or  more  influence  to  be  ex- 
erted for  God  and  his  Church;  the  light  of  my  life 
would  shine  more  and  more  unto  the  perfect  day." 
With  these  and  like  excuses,  do  we  seek  to  relieve 
ourselves,  from  living,  as  Christ  calls  us,  in  the  lots  in 
which  we  stand.  God  will  not  and  can  not  accept 
them.  He  has  promised  us  a  strength,  mightier  than 
any  foes  that  can  assail  us.  He  offers  us  a  grace, 
sufficient  against  any  temptations  that  He  permits  to 
allure  us.  And  now,  wherever  we  live,  even  though 
it  be  in  "the  household  of  Csesar,"  He  commands  us 
to  live  as  becomes  the  saints  of  the  holy  God. 

If,  to-morrow,  burdened  with  the  duties  of  your 
daily  life,  you  shall  be  tempted  to  excuse  your  con- 
formity to  the  world,  by  the  reflection,  that  another 
business  or  another  set  of  circumstances  would  find  you 
a  more  nearly  consistent  Christian  ; — think  of  these 
saints  in  the  household  of  Caesar:  and  remember  that 
the  grace  which  upheld  them  in  their  conflict  with 
surrounding  sin,  is  yours  as  well ;  and  that,  as  your 
allurements  to  live  inconsistent  lives  can  not  be 
greater  than  were  theirs,  you  may  not  charge  your 
inconsistencies  to  temptations  around  you,  but  to 
that  sin  within  you,  but  for  which,  all  temptation 
would  be  powerless. 

II.  But  Christianity  is  labor  as  well  as  life.  Let 
us  turn,  therefore,  to  the  second  picture  suggested  by 
the  text;  a  picture  of  Christian  labor,  persisting  in 
the  most  discouraging  circumstances.     Faul  gaining 


PERSISTENCE    OF    THE    CHRISTIAN    CHARACTER.        23 

converts  in  the  imperial  household,  while  a  prisoner 
chained  to  a  Roman  soldier. 

Regarded  from  any  point  of  view  except  his  own, 
it  is  doubtful  whether  any  situation  could  have  been 
more  unsuited  to  successful  Christian  labor,  than  was 
that  of  the  great  Apostle  at  this  time.  He  was  an 
old  man;  broken  in  body,  we  may  well  believe,  by 
his  repeated  journeys,  his  labors,  and  his  persecu- 
tions. Certainly,  if  it  had  been  possible  to  discour- 
age him  in  the  work  to  which  he  had  given  his  life, 
his  position  as  a  prisoner, — chained  to  a  Roman  guard, 
compelled  to  wait  for  a  trial  already  long  deferred, 
and  to  live  in  the  presence  of  revolting  iniquity, — 
would  long  before  this  have  impelled  him  to  yield  to 
despair.  It  would  not  have  been  strange,  had  his 
touching  farewell  to  Timothy,  written  just  before 
his  martyrdom,  been  written  at  the  beginning  of 
this  confinement,  while  awaiting  the  trial,  which, 
he  must  have  feared,  would  terminate  in  his  execu- 
tion. Almost  any  other  man  would  at  least  have 
sought  rest  from  active  labor,  during  this  long  im- 
prisonment. At  all  events,  we  should  scarcely  expect 
to  find  this  period  of  his  career,  marked  by  any  but 
the  most  casual  labor. 

But  how  different  was  his  actual  life.  It  is  hardly 
too  much  to  say,  that  no  other  equal  portion  of  his 
apostolic  life  is  so  crowded  with  successful  work. 
Of  the  very  small  degree  of  liberty,  that  could  be  per- 
mitted him,  consistently  with  ''the  military  custody 
under  which  he  was  placed;"  he  was  quick  to  take 
advantage.  And  he  so  declared  the  Gospel  of  Christ, 
that,  to  use  his  own  words,  "he  begot  many  children 
in  his  chains."  So,  in  this  epistle,  he  writes  to 
the  Philippian  Church:  "I  would  ye  should  under- 
stand, brethren,  that  the  things,  which  happened  unto 


24  SERMONS    ON    THE    CHRISTIAN    LIFE. 

me,  have  fallen  out  rather  unto  the  furtherance  of 
the  Gospel;  so  that  my  bonds  in  Christ  are  manifest 
in  all  the  palace,  and  in  all  other  places ;  and  many 
of  the  brethren  in  the  Lord,  waxing  confident  by  my 
bonds,  are  much  more  bold  to  speak  the  word  with- 
out fear."  Thus,  what  would  have  discouraged  a  less 
devoted  disciple  than  was  Paul,  became  in  his  case  a 
means  of  greater  usefulness.  His  very  bonds  gave 
forcefulness  to  his  speech.  That,  which  at  first  ap- 
peared to  impede,  must,  as  has  been  well  said:  "have 
deepened  the  impression  of  his  eloquence.  For  who 
could  see,  without  feeling,  that  venerable  form  sub- 
jected by  iron  links  to  the  coarse  control  of  the  sol- 
dier who  stood  beside  him?  And  how  often  must 
the  emotions  of  the  assembly  have  been  called  forth, 
by  the  upraising  of  that  fettered  hand,  and  the  clank- 
ing of  the  chain  which  checked  its  energetic  ac- 
tion?" Moreover,  it  was  during  this  season  of  im- 
prisonment, that  some  of  the  most  important  of 
his  epistles  were  written :  and  by  means  of  faithful 
delegates  he  still  directed  the  Churches  which,  in  his 
less  restricted  labors,  he  had  established. 

Among  the  successes  of  this  restricted  but  most 
active  toil,  none  could  have  been  more  delightful  or 
encouraging  to  the  Apostle  than  these  converts  of 
his  in  "  the  household  of  Csesar."  For  not  only  were 
these  the  Christians  with  whom,  because  of  the  char- 
acter of  his  imprisonment,  he  would  be  brought  most 
frequently  into  contact;  but  they  were  also  the  fruit 
of  his  bonds;  they  were  the  successes  of  a  ministry 
abounding  in  temptations  to  despair;  they  had  been 
Bared  in  the  midst  of  the  most  powerful  enticements 
to  abandoned  lives. 

So,  from  this  second  picture  suggested  by  the 
text,  do  we    learn    a  lesson    of  encouragement,    in 


PERSISTENCE    OF    THE    CHRISTIAN    CHARACTER.        25 

work  undertaken  by  us,  however  unpropitious  the 
circumstances  in  which  it  is  going  forward.  What 
slaves  of  immediate  success  we  all  are !  How  impa- 
tient to  behold  the  seed  ripeuing  and  bearing  fruit  in 
the  very  hour  of  its  planting!  How  despairing  we 
become  in  the  presence  of  difficulties !  Minister  and 
people  alike;  the  teacher  teaching  in  the  school;  the 
parent  training  his  children;  the  friend  laboring 
with  friend.  How  quick  we  are  to  see  the  difficul- 
ties of  the  work  before  us !  How  slow  we  are  to  find 
the  advantages,  which  are  sure  to  lie  somewhere  even 
in  our  difficulties !  Over  against  this  despair,  I  put 
this  second  picture  of  the  text.  The  picture  ought 
to  exorcise  despair,  and  inspire  every  one  engaged  in 
work  for  the  redemption  of  men  from  sin.  The 
moral  of  this  picture  of  Paul — the  captive,  the  pris- 
oner, the  aged — directing  the  Churches,  educating  the 
saints  at  Rome,  winning  souls  for  Christ  in  the  very 
"  household  of  Caesar,"  is  obviously,  that  you  and  I, 
if  earnestly  engaged  in  Christian  work,  have  no  right 
to  be  despairing  about  its  results,  whatever  the  obsta- 
cles that  encompass  it.  The  very  law  of  Christian 
work  and  triumph  is  this :  that  God's  noblest  victories 
are  victories  plucked  from  the  very  grasp  of  the 
enemy,  by  feeblest  agents,  and  with  feeblest  instru- 
ments. Had  not  Paul  the  right,  in  virtue  both  of 
inspiration  and  of  large  experience,  to  announce  this 
law?  And  where  shall  we  find  it  formulated  in 
words  as  eloquent  as  his?  "But  God  hath  chosen 
the  foolish  things  of  the  world  to  confound  the  wise; 
and  God  hath  chosen  the  weak  things  of  the  world 
to  confound  the  things  which  are  mighty ;  and  base 
things  of  the  world,  and  things  that  are  despised, 
hath  God  chosen,  yea,  and  things  which  are  not,  to 
bring  to  nought  the  things  that  are." 


26  SERMONS    ON    THE    CHRISTIAN    LIFE. 

Of  all  whom  I  address  to-day,  there  is  not  one 
whom  God  does  not  call,  by  His  Word  and  Provi- 
dence and  Spirit,  to  some  work  for  men ;  work  en- 
compassed with  difficulty,  and  demanding  self-de- 
nial and  exhausting  toil.  All  Christian  work  is  self- 
denying  work.  "  If  any  man  will  come  after  me,  let 
him  deny  himself,  and  take  up  his  cross  and  follow 
me."  In  all  Christian  toil,  there  is  something  which 
makes  it  difficult  of  accomplishment.  If  we  look 
for  the  difficulty  we  shall  soon  discover  it.  But  there 
is  no  such  difficulty  in  the  toil,  or  in  our  circumstances 
as  related  to  it,  as  should  make  us  recoil  from  it  in 
despair.  There  are  obstacles,  and  great  obstacles,  in  the 
way  of  the  fulfillment  of  your  mission  as  a  Christian 
parent.  It  is  doubtless  a  work  filled  with  crosses, 
so  to  train  your  children,  that  they  shall  meet  un- 
harmed the  temptations  of  the  world;  and  be  pre- 
pared for  God's  presence,  and  the  bliss  and  holiness 
of  heaven.  But  in  all  this,  is  to  be  found  no  reason 
why  you  should  not  move  forward  in  your  labors  full 
of  faith  and  hope.  God  purposely  appoints  his  people 
to  work,  which  in  itself  seems  hopeless ;  in  order  that 
they  may  learn  to  find  their  hope,  and  strength,  and  in- 
spiration, directly  in  Him.  He  brings  his  people,  as  of 
old,  to  the  shores  of  deep  seas :  and,  calling  them  to 
trust  to  Him,  says  now,  as  then ;  "  Speak  unto  the 
children  of  Israel,  that  they  go  forward."  What 
difficulty  and  danger,  might  Israel  not  have  discerned 
on  that  day  of  flight  from  Egypt,  in  the  journey  to 
which  God  called  them:  the  sands  of  desert;  the  pur- 
suing enemy;  and  the  awful  deep!  But  the  word  of 
the  Lord  came  unto  Moses,  saying :  "  Speak,  that 
they  go  forward."  And  as  they  obeyed,  the  waters 
divided,  the  desert  was  left  behind,  and  the  enemy 
was  engulfed.    Our  work  may  seem  hard  and  hope- 


PERSISTENCE    OF    THE    CHRISTIAN    CHARACTER.        27 

less  as  the  apostle's  at  Rome.  But  it  is  not  irrever- 
ent to  say,  that  God's  delight  is  to  set  before  His 
people  tasks,  so  full  of  obstacles,  that,  at  the  last, 
their  success  shall  be  the  more  signal,  and  their 
reward  more  glorious.  Let  us  find  hope,  there- 
fore, in  the  very  disadvantages  and  difficulties  of  our 
work;  rememberiug  that  God  will  proportion  our 
strength  to  the  labor  to  which  he  calls  us.  Let  us 
remember  the  promise  to  every  faithful  soul:  "as thy 
day  is  so  shall  my  grace  be;"  and  thus  find  ground 
for  hope  in  all  labor;  even  though  it  seem  as  hard 
and  hopeless  as  this  work  of  Paul's,  had  he  forgotten 
God,  must  have  appeared  to  him.  Let  us  never  for- 
get, that  it  is  not  impossible,  even  while  prisoners,  to 
win  saints  of  God  out  of  the  very  "  household  of 
Caesar." 

III.  I  have  thus  endeavored  to  impress  the  lessons, 
to  be  learned  from  the  pictures  of  Christian  life  and 
Christian  labor,  suggested  by  the  text.  There  is  still 
another,  to  which,  in  closing,  I  can  allude,  in  only  the 
briefest  way.  It  is  a  picture  of  Christian  love,  persist- 
ing against  the  obstacles  of  both  absence  and  dis- 
tance; and  binding  together,  in  a  strong  aft'ection, 
those  who  were  widely  separated  in  space  and  circum- 
stance. The  saints  at  Rome,  in  the  household  of 
Cresar,  saluting  saints,  across  the  Mediterranean  and 
^Egean  seas,  in  Philippi  of  Macedonia. 

Those,  whom  Christ  appointed  as  the  apostles  of 
his  religion,  affirmed  the  brotherhood  of  man.  But 
they  dwelt  also,  with  peculiar  delight,  on  the  family  re- 
lation, which  unites  the  disciples  of  the  Redeemer. 
They  are  members  of  a  household,  into  which  they 
have  been  received  as  adopted  children.  They  are 
brethren,  united  in  that  Elder  Brother,  of  whom  the 
whole  family  in  heaven  and  on  earth  is  named.    By 


28  SERMONS   ON   THE   CHRISTIAN   LIFE. 

the  members  of  the  Apostolic  Churches,  this  relation 
was  both  deeply  felt  and  highly  valued.  Though  ab- 
sent from  each  other,  though  separated  by  seas,  and 
of  different  nationalities,  they  felt,  that  they  were 
bound  together  by  the  most  tender  and  most  sacred  of 
all  ties.  The  power  of  one  Name  broke  down  all  bar- 
riers, destroyed  all  intervening  distance,  and  united 
them  in  faith  and  hope  and  love.  It  was  the  pro- 
found conviction  of  eacb  Christian  man,  and  of  each 
Christian  Church,  that,  as  the  power  of  that  Name 
increased  on  earth,  the  love  of  man  to  man  would 
grow,  until  the  nations  of  the  world  would  live  in 
concord,  and  men  would  learn  war  no  more.  The 
bond  of  a  common  Savior,  uniting  them  anew  to  one 
Father,  was  the  one  cord  which  they  believed  strong 
enough  to  bind  in  one  brotherhood  the  race  of  man. 
And  in  the  spirit  of  love  to  their  fellows,  they  sought 
to  spread  abroad,  throughout  the  world,  the  knowl- 
edge of  Jesus  Christ  and  Him  crucified. 

With  this  hope,  and  in  this  same  faith,  are  we 
called  to  labor  for  the  spread  of  the  Gospel  of  Christ. 
Poets  have  sung,  and  seers  have  prophesied  the  com- 
ing of  the  day,  when 

"  Man  to  man  shall  brother  be." 

And  how  often,  in  these  days,  do  men  talk  glibly 
of  a  religion,  whose  only  dogmas  are  the  fatherhood 
of  God  and  the  brotherhood  of  man!  But  how  shall 
we  make  real  this  dream  of  a  human  brotherhood  ?  Is 
it  supposed,  that  men  can  be  bound  together,  by 
the  mere  iteration  of  this  fine  sentiment  of  God's 
fatherhood  and  men's  brotherhood?  A  dream  more 
baseless  was  never  dreamed.  I  know  but  one  source 
of  the  knowledge,  which  man  has,  that  God  is  our 
Father.     The  heaven  saith,  it  is  not  in  me;  and  the 


PERSISTENCE    OF    THE    CHRISTIAN    CHARACTER.        29 

deep  saith,  it  is  not  in  me.  Man  knows  it,  only 
through  that  revelation,  which  tells  him  the  glad  news, 
that,  "  God  so  loved  the  world,  that  He  gave  his  only 
begotten  Son,  that  whosoever  believeth  on  Him  might 
not  perish,  but  might  have  everlasting  life."  And 
this  Gospel,  which  reveals  God's  fatherhood,  is  the 
one  bond  strong  enough  to  bind  men  in  a  common 
brotherhood.  Therefore,  to-day,  as  ever,  is  devolved 
on  the  Church  of  Christ  the  duty,  announced  in 
its  great  commission  :  "Go  ye  into  all  the  world,  and 
preach  the  Gospel  to  every  creature."  In  this  Gos- 
pel of  God's  grace  alone,  resides  the  divine  power, 
that  can  unite  in  fraternal  love,  not  only  "  saints  at 
Rome"  with  the  saints  in  Philippi  of  Macedonia,  but 
the  isles  and  continents  of  the  earth,  through  the  Re- 
deemer and  Elder  Brother  of  all. 

In  view,  then,  of  these  great  and  blessed  truths; 
in  view  of  this  inherent  power  of  Christianity  to 
overcome  the  greatest  obstacles,  and  to  persist  to 
its  purposed  achievements ;  why  should  you  wonder, 
that  we  speak  of  the  Gospel,  as  "  the  power  of  God 
unto  salvation  to  every  one  that  believeth;"  and  call 
on  you  to  believe  in  the  Redeemer,  whom  this  Gospel 
reveals?  In  Christ  alone,  the  ideal  goodness,  which 
charms  you  in  your  better  moments,  is  possible.  In 
union  to  Him  alone,  therefore,  can  there  be  "saints 
in  Cesar's  household."  In  the  history  of  the  Gospel 
of  Christ  alone,  do  we  read  the  record  of  continuous 
labor  for  men  culminating  in  triumph;  though  car- 
ried forward  in  difficulties  the  most  formidable,  and 
in  an  atmosphere  the  most  enervating.  It  is  only, 
therefore,  when,  like  Paul,  you  shall  have  become  co- 
workers  with  Christ,  and  shall  have  been  imbued  with 
His  Spirit,  that  you  will  deem  no  sacrifice  for  your 
fellows  fruitless,  and  will  "  call  no  man  abandoned." 


30  SERMONS    ON    THE    CHRISTIAN    LIFE. 

It  is  in  Christ  alone,  that  we  difccern  our  relationship 
to  the  whole  family  of  man.  And,  therefore,  it  is  in 
Him  alone,  that  the  race  can  be  united  in  peace  and 
holiness. 

Wonder  not  then,  I  say,  that  we  call  upon  you  to 
believe  in  Him,  as  your  only  hope,  or  as  the  only  hope 
of  a  world  lying  in  iniquity.  A  spiritual  life,  born 
of  a  source  less  divine,  must  die  in  the  atmosphere 
of  the  world's  temptations.  Philanthropic  labor 
must  be  temporary  and  ineffective,  when  uninspired 
by  the  lofty  motives  and  eternal  rewards,  which  made 
the  aged  Apostle  triumph  in  his  chains.  And  charity 
itself  will  fail  to  take  in  the  brotherhood  of  man, 
save  when  its  view  is  enlarged  by  communion  with 
Him,  who,  though  equal  with  God,  is  not  ashamed 
to  call  men  his  brethren. 

Let  your  life,  therefore,  be  hid  with  Christ  in  God. 
Let  your  labor  for  men  be  labor  for  Christ.  Let 
your  love  be  constrained  by  his  love,  who  gave  Him- 
self to  death  for  men.  Your  spiritual  life  will  be- 
come eternal  life.  Your  labor  for  men  will  never 
be  in  vain.  And  your  love,  embracing  the  race,  will 
repeat  the  ancient  prophecy, — and  hasten  its  fulfill- 
ment— of  the  brotherhood  of  man. 


III. 

THE  COMPLETION  OF  MAN  IN  CHRIST. 

And  ye  are  complete  in  him,  which  is  the  head  of  all  principal- 
ity and  power. — Colossians  ii,  10. 

There  had  appeared  in  the  Church  of  Colosse 
vital  religious  errors.  These  had  their  origin,  partly 
at  least,  in  an  endeavor  to  unite  certain  oriental  spec- 
ulations with  the  Gospel  of  Christ.  The  Colossians 
had  adopted,  as  their  belief,  a  theory  of  the  rank 
of  the  Redeemer  in  the  orders  of  being,  inconsistent 
with  his  essential  Deity.  They  were  led  thus  to 
question  whether  the  salvation  of  Christ  is  the  ulti- 
mate and  complete  salvation.  They  were  disposed  to 
regard  it  as  an  intermediate  process;  and  to  regard 
Christianity  as  an  intermediate  dispensation,  which 
would  be  superseded  by  another,  just  as  it  had  super- 
seded Judaism.  All  this  sprang  from  their  belief, 
derived  from  these  oriental  speculations,  that  Jesus  is 
one,  and  that  not  the  loftiest,  of  a  series  of  descend- 
ing beings,  which  fills  the  long  interval  between  God 
and  man. 

"We  are  indebted  to  these  errors,  for  some  of  the 
most  sublime  assertions  of  the  Redeemer's  Deity,  to 
to  be  found  in  the  New  Testament.  It  is  in  this  con- 
nection, that  the  Redeemer  is  said  to  be  the  image  of 

(31) 


32  SERMONS    ON    THE    CHRISTIAN    LIFE. 

the  invisible  God;  the  first-born  of  every  creature; 
the  One,  by  whom  all  things  were  created;  by  whom 
and  for  whom, — whether  things  visible  or  invisible, 
in  heaven  or  in  earth,  thrones  or  dominions,  or  prin- 
cipalities or  powers, — all  things  consist;  who  in  all 
things  has  the  pre-eminence;  and  in  whom  dwells 
all  the  fullness  of  the  Godhead  bodily.  Depending 
on  this  pre-eminence  of  the  Redeemer,  is  the  truth 
announced  in  the  text,  namely:  the  completeness  of  his 
redemption  of  man.  "And  ye  are  complete  in  Him, 
who  is  the  head  of  all  principality  and  power." 

It  is  the  completeness  of  the  redemption  in  Christ, 
then,  which  the  Apostle  here  declares.  The  statement 
is  not,  you  will  observe,  the  redemption  of  Christ  is 
now  complete  in  you.  But  ye  are  complete  in  Christ, 
the  Redeemer.  There  is  a  wide  difference  between' 
these  statements.  It  is  not  true  that  our  redemption  is 
now  complete.  Were  it  complete,  Christianity  might 
be  judged  as  manifested  in  us.  But  this  we  will  not 
permit  without  a  protest.  As  well — we  say  to  those, 
who  would  so  judge  our  religion, — as  well  may  you 
pronounce  upon  the  beauty  of  a  temple,  before  the  walls 
are  reared;  while  the  scaffolding  remains,  and  the  un- 
polished stones  are  strewn  around  its  half-built  sides. 
Wait,  until  the  top  stone  has  been  brought  forth; 
and  the  idea  of  the  architect  has  been  made  actual 
in  the  completed  building.  Wait,  until  the  Gospel 
has  wrought  its  work  on  man,  before  you  pronounce 
upon  the  Gospel,  as  it  appears  in  man.  If  you  must 
judge  an  uncompleted  building,  go,  not  to  the  build- 
ing itself,  but  to  the  plans  of  the  architect.  There 
you  may  see  its  proportions  and  details  foreshadowed. 
And,  if  you  must  pass  judgment  upon  an  incomplete 
redemption,  go,  not  to  half-sanctified  Christians,  but 
to  the  plan  of  the  Redeemer,  in  the  New  Testament. 


THE    COMPLETION    OF    MAN    IN    CHRIST.  33 

The  Gospel,  then,  contemplates  and  provides  for  the 
completion  of  man.  Redemption  will  leave  nothing  to 
be  desired.  When  it  shall  be  finished,  man  will 
be  complete.  "What  is  now  fragmentary,  will  then 
be  integral.  The  powers,  which  now  act  in  conflict, 
will  then  be  harmonized.  The  love,  which  is  now 
borne  down  by  selfish  passions  and  combating  inter- 
ests, will  then  be  regnant.  The  hope,  which  is  now 
dimmed  by  obstacles  to  its  fulfillment,  will  then  be 
perfect  enjoyment.  The  development  of  the  soul, 
which  is  now  hindered  or  distorted,  will  then  be  free, 
and  in  the  direction  of  the  infinitely  perfect  life.  All 
this, — the  Apostle  tells  the  Colossians, — is  not  to'  be 
provided  for  hereafter;  when  Christ,  as  the  Redeemer, 
shall  give  place  to  a  loftier  principality.  But  all  this 
is  provided  for  now.  "Ye  are  complete  in  Him,  who 
is  the  head  of  all  principality  and  power." 

The  subject,  thus  brought  before  us  by  the  text,  I 
shall  attempt  to  unfold  in  a  series  of  propositions. 

I.  Of  these,  the  first  and  most  obvious  is,  that,  as 
we  can  not  image  the  completed  man,  we  must  ac- 
cept the  statement  of  the  text,  by  implicit  faith  in  the 
Bible.  In  this  respect,  the  statement  of  the  Apos- 
tle is  like  an  unfulfilled  prophecy;  as,  for  example, 
the  prophecy  of  the  second  coming  of  our  Lord ; 
belief  in  which  is  grounded,  solely  on  our  confidence 
in  the  Bible.  It  is  unlike  the  doctrine  of  the  pres- 
ence of  the  Holy  Spirit;  belief  in  which  is  based, 
not  only  on  our  confidence  in  the  Bible,  but,  partly, 
on  historical  evidence,  and  partly,  on  our  own  ex- 
perience. 

For  we  have  never  seen,  and  there  has  never  lived 
on  earth,  a  completed  man,  who  once  was  sinful.  We 
can  not,  therefore,  portray  one.  This  is  true  even  of 
the  substantial  elements  of  man's  completeness.    These 


34  SERMONS    ON    THE    CHRISTIAN    LIFE. 

substantial  elements  are  the  traits,  which,  together, 
constitute  perfect  holiness.  It  might  be  supposed, 
that,  in  the  attempt  to  conceive  of  these,  we  should 
derive  sufficient  aid  from  the  recorded  life  of  the  per- 
fect Man,  Christ  Jesus.  But, — setting  aside  the  per- 
sonal union  of  his  humanity  with  his  divine  nature 
which  led  Paul  to  call  his  personality  a  "  mystery," — 
let  us  remember  only,  that  his  perfection  is  that  of 
one  who  never  sinned.  Now,  redeemed  men  have 
sinned;  and  this  tremendous  fact  must  forever  give 
to  their  perfection  a  character  of  its  own.  Through- 
out eternity,  though  complete  in  Christ,  their  lives 
will  be  distinguished  by  activities,  in  which,  for  this 
reason,  the  man  Christ  Jesus  can  never  engage ;  and 
by  spiritual  joys,  which  He  can  never  share.  In  at- 
tempting to  conceive  of  these,  the  life  of  the  ever 
perfect  Jesus  lends  us  not  one  whit  of  aid. 

The  difficulty  of  portraying  the  formal  elements  of 
man's  completeness  is  greater  still.  These  formal 
elements  are  derived  from  his  environment.  To  por- 
tray the  completed  man,  therefore,  it  would  be  nec- 
essary, first  of  all,  to  see  heaven,  and  the  surround- 
ing spirits  of  the  just  made  perfect.  We  should  have 
to  know  what  is  meant  by  the  company  of  the  an- 
gels; and  what  will  be  its  influence  on  man;  and  what 
will  be  the  changes  wrought  in  him,  by  the  per- 
fected worship  of  God,  and  by  celestial  commun- 
ion with  Jesus,  the  Mediator  of  the  new  covenant. 
All  this  were  necessary  to  the  portrayal  of  the  com- 
pleted man.  Imagination  can  not  aid  us  here.  For 
imagination  constructs  new  images,  only  out  of  ele- 
ments already  familiar.  And  therefore,  though  per- 
fect happiness  and  perfect  holiness  have  been  made 
known  as  the  final  heritage  of  the  redeemed,  yet  for 
image  of  this   redemption,  we  must  wait,  until  we 


TI1E    COMPLETION    OF    MAN    IN    CHRIST.  35 

shall  see  God  face  to  face,  and  know  Him  as  we  are 
known. 

You  will  learn  how  impossible  is  the  task  pro- 
posed, if  only  you  will  attempt  it.  Tell  me  the  ele- 
ments of  the  perfect  character  and  the  final  home. 
Gather  them  together  in  one  harmonious  whole,  and 
by  eloquence,  or  poetry,  or  painting,  or  sculpture, 
make  that  whole  so  vivid  that  I  shall  see  a  real  image. 
Can  you  do  it?  If  you  can,  you  can  do  more  than 
Christian  art  has  yet  achieved  by  poem,  or  sermon, 
or  marble,  or  color,  in  its  representations  of  the  saints 
in  light.  All  that  we  can  do  is  to  assert,  just  as  the 
Bible  does,  of  both  man  and  heaven,  mere  negatives. 
"We  can  say  of  heaven,  that  it  will  contain  no  sorrow, 
or  sickness,  or  death.  We  can  abstract  positive 
moral  evils  and  imperfections  from  man.  But  it  is  a 
feat  beyond  the  power  of  genius,  to  image  the  com- 
pleted man,  with  positive  celestial  virtues,  and  active 
in  celestial  engagements. 

If,  therefore,  you  ask  me  to  describe  the  completed 
man;  I  can  only  turn  upon  you  with  the  inquiry,  but 
what  is  the  completion  of  man  ?  You  can  reply  only : 
"Such  a  soul  will  neither  sin  nor  suffer."  You 
can  not  endow  man  with  a  single  trait,  of  which  you 
have  had  no  observation.  So  the  Bible  proclaims  the 
simple  fact  that  we  shall  be  complete;  and  its  state- 
ment appeals  to  our  faith,  just  as  every  prophecy  ap- 
peals to  it.  The  ground  of  its  appeal  is  the  truth- 
fulness of  God  and  the  inspiration  of  his  written 
Word.* 


*  There  is  no  picture  of  Heaven  in  the  New  Testament. 
The  twenty-first  .chapter  of  the  book  of  Revelation  is  some- 
times referred  to  as  a  description  of  Heaven.  But  it  is  not  a 
description.  Indeed,  the  chapter — we  say  it  with  reverence — 
becomes  grotesque,  when  we  "wrest  it,"  by  interpreting,  what 


36  SERMONS    ON    THE    CHRISTIAN    LIFE. 

Let  us  not,  however,  for  this  reason,  spurn  the 
promise.  That  were  to  condemn  all  faith.  God  as- 
sures us  that  all  things  are  working  together  for  our 
good.  But  he  does  not  intimate  the  general  method, 
which  he  adopts  in  making  all  things  our  servants. 
Nor  in  a  particular  case  does  he  show  us  how  our 
affliction  is  working  for  us  the  exceeding  weight  of 
glory.  Shall  we  condition  our  faith,  on  his  revela- 
tion, either  of  the  mode  of  his  procedure,  or  of  the 
particular  blessings  which  shall  issue  from  our  per- 
sonal afflictions?  That  were  to  forget  the  function 
of  faith.     For  the  province  of  faith  is  just  this  un- 


were  intended  to  be  symbols  of  the  invisible,  as  though  they 
were  pictures  of  the  visible.  The  cube  is  a  symbol  of  perfection. 
But  the  figure  of  a  city,  whose  length  and  breadth  and  height  are 
equal,  is  not  the  image  of  a  perfect  city.  And  even  interpreted 
as  symbols — as  they  should  be — the  figures  of  this  chapter  do 
not  convey  detailed  information.  When  we  have  named  moral 
purity,  perfect  happiness,  worship,  and  perpetuity,  we  have  ex- 
hausted nearly,  if  not  quite  all,  the  elements  of  its  revelation 
of  the  life  of  the  redeemed.  As  to  the  material  surroundings  of 
the  redeemed,  the  chapter  can  not  be  said  to  teach  more  than 
their  unparalleled  glory.  And  this  unparalleled  glory,  it  affirms 
by  means  of  symbols,  which  become  meaningless,  the  moment 
we  press  them  to  yield  more  than  the  most  general  truth. 
It  were  well,  if  modern  writers  would  imitate  this  reticence  of 
the  Word  of  God.  What  was  not  revealed — possibly  only, 
because  it  could  not  be  to  a  world  not  "pure  in  heart,"  and 
unable,  therefore,  to  "see  God"  —  through  inspired  Apostles, 
can  not  be  made  vivid  by  the  pens  of  modern  litterateurs.  The 
attempt  to  portray  the  details  of  the  heavenly  life,  must  result 
in  pictures  that  are  earthly  and  gross,  just  in  proportion  as 
they  are  distinct. 

Nor  has  consummate  genius  failed  to  recognize  the  limits  of 
the  human  imagination  at  this  point.  Dante,  certainly,  among 
the  great  poets,  might  have  boon  expected  to  attempt  a  de- 
tailed description  of  the  life  of  Heaven.  His  genius,  as  has 
been  so  often  remarked,  impels  him  to  be  definite,  whenever 
definitcness  is  a  possible  attainment.     Moreover,  he  lived  at  a 


THE    COMPLETION    OF    MAN    IN    CHRIST.  37 

known  province  between  a  promise  and  its  fulfill- 
ment. 

Let  ns,  rather,  in  faith  of  God  and  of  his  Word, 
rejoice  in  the  inspiring  and  uplifting  promise  of  the 
text.  The  revealing  spirit  here  brings  to  us  the 
loftiest  assurance  ever  uttered  to  man.  This  redemp- 
tion, of  which  we  are  now  enjoying  the  first-fruits, 
is  the  ultimate  redemption.  No  power  of  ours  shall 
fail  of  perfection.  No  circumstance  shall  be  want- 
ing to  make  our  future  life  ineffably  blessed.  This 
salvation  is  no  intermediate  process.  Ye  are  com- 
plete in  Christ.    He  is  no  intermediate  Saviour.     He 


time  when  Christianity  revelled  in  sensuous  forms ;  and  when 
the  Schoolmen  employed  their  dialectic,  in  computing  the  num- 
ber, in  determining  the  relations  to  space  and  time,  and  in 
ascertaining  the  activities  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  celestial 
world.  But  the  exact  measurements  of  the  Hell,  and  the  vivid 
portrayals  of  the  Purgatory,  are  not  to  be  found  in  the  Para- 
dise of  the  Divine  Comedy.  The  reason  of  this  marked  change, 
the  poet  himself  states  in  the  first  Canto  of  the  Paradise.  He 
had  seen  the  Paradise;  because,  gazing  on  Beatrice,  he  had 
been  "  trans-humanized."  But  he  can  not  interpret  the  vision 
in  human  language;  nay,  he  can  not  even  recall  it. 

"Within  that  heaven  which  most  his  light  receives 
Was  I,  and  things  beheld  which  to  repeat 
Nor  knows,  nor  can,  who  from  above  descends; 
Because  in  drawing  near  to  its  desire 
Our  intellect  ingulphs  itself  so  far 
That  after  it  the  memory  can  not  go." 

Because  the  intellect  so  "ingulphs  itself  in  the  superhuman 
task  of  portraying  the  perfect  life  that  even  recollection  fails, 
the  Paradise  is  both  the  least  distinct  and  the  least  intelligible 
member  of  the  trilogy.  The  Hell,  the  poem  of  darkness,  with 
just  light  enough  to  make  forms  stand  out  in  the  boldest  relief, 
Frederick  Schlegel  calls,  the  plastic  part  of  the  poem.  In  the 
Purgatory,  the  light  is  increased,  reflected,  and  refracted;  so 
that  colors  beautify  the  scenery;  and  this,  he  calls,  the  pictur- 
esque part  of  the  poem.  "  But  in  the  Paradise,"  says  Schlegel, 
"there  remains  nothing  but  the  pure  music  of  light;  reflection  ceases, 


38  SERMONS   ON   THE   CHRISTIAN   LIFE. 

is  the  head  of  all  principality  and  power.  Redemp- 
tion is  not  a  single,  forward,  and  upward  step  in  an 
eternal  series.  It  is  ultimate  destiny.  The  life  of 
heaven  is  not  a  new  discipline  like  the  life  of  earth. 
It  is  God's  gracious  and  final  reward.  Man  is  not 
again  to  be  subjected  to  suffering,  in  order  to  purge 
away  remaining  evil.  He  is  to  be  blessed  as  God 
is  blessed.  Beyond  the  Son  of  God  there  is"  no  loft- 
ier Redeemer.  "Ye  are  complete  in  Him,  who  is 
the  head  of  all  principality  and  power." 

II.  Our  sense  of  the  value  of  this  special  revelation 
will  be  deepened,  if  we  consider,  secondly,  the  truth 
that,  without  it,  man  would  not  have  dared  to  think  of 
the  next  life  as  the  ultimate  life  of  the  redeemed. 


and  the  poet  rises  gradually  to  behold  the  colorless  pure  essence  of  the 
Deity."  Carlyle,  also,  finds  no  difficulty  in  understanding  the 
first  two  parts  of  the  poem ;  but,  of  the  third,  he  says,  "  The 
Paradise  is  a  kind  of  inarticulate  music  to  me." 

No  one,  who  has  read  the  Paradise,  can  doubt  that  its  lack 
of  form  and  color,  as  contrasted  with  the  abounding  form  and 
color  of  the  preceding  poems,  was  purposed  by  the  poet.  That 
Dante  could  have  portrayed  a  heaven  filled  with  distinct  though 
earthly  images,  the  Hell  and  the  Purgatory  furnish  sufficient 
proof.  That  such  a  heaven  might  easily  have  tempted  him, 
and  must  have  tempted  a  man  less  spiritual  or  with  less 
genius,  will  be  clear  to  all  who  will  reflect  on  the  sensuous 
forms  which  distinguish  Mediseval  Christianity.  That  he  es- 
caped, or,  at  least,  overcame  the  temptation,  is  itself  strong 
proof  of  his  spiritual  character.  That,  while  refusing  the 
aid  of  definite  forms,  he  is  still  able  to  leave  on  the  reader  a 
distinct  and  profound  impression  of  the  infinite  glory  and 
sublimity  of  Paradise,  is  perhaps  the  highest  achievement  of 
his  literary  genius.  Indications  are  not  wanting  that  books, 
whose  chief  title  to  popularity  will  be  their  descriptions  of  the 
heavenly  life,  are  to  be  multiplied.  If,  tempted  to  yield  our- 
selves to  their  influence — which,  so  far  as  they  shall  be  descrip- 
tive must  be  unspiritual — let  us  remember  the  reticence  both 
of  the  book  of  Revelation  itself,  and  of  the  spiritual  Dante. 


THE   COMPLETION   OF   MAN   IN   CHRIST.  39 

I  do  not  doubt  that  man  would  have  regarded  the 
next  life  of  the  impenitent  as  ultimate.  For  nature  and 
conscience  alike  intimate  absolute  penalty  alone,  for 
the  breaker  of  law.  But,  let  us  suppose,  that  God,  in 
revealing  the  purposes  of  his  mercy,  had  forbidden  the 
removal,  even  for  an  instant,  of  the  veil,  which  hides 
the  future  world.  Man  would  still  have  endeavored 
to  conceive  of  the  elements  of  the  life  to  which  death 
introduces  us.  But,  even  with  the  truth  of  God's 
mercy  made  known  to  him,  would  he  have  dared, — 
I  will  not  say  to  believe, — but  even  faintly  to  hope, 
that  any  man,  in  the  life  immediately  next  this,  will 
stand  "complete"  before  God? 

Remember,  how  thoroughly  our  minds  are  satu- 
rated with  Biblical  truth.  "We  seldom  realize,  how 
nearly  impossible  it  is  to  rise  out  of  the  region 
of  religious  thought,  in  which  Biblical  conceptions 
are  dominant.  In  our  religious  speculations,  we  fall 
back,  without  purpose,  and  even  without  conscious- 
ness, on  the  written  revelation;  and  so  mistake  its 
declarations  for  natural  beliefs.  It  would  not  be 
strange,  therefore,  if  we  were  to  leap  to  the  conclu- 
sion, that,  even  though  heaven  were  unrevealed,  all 
would  believe,  that  if  God  is  a  God  of  grace,  the 
next  life  must  be  the  ultimate  life;  and  the  redeemed 
spirit  be  complete.  But  we  would  find  it  difficult  to 
state  the  steps,  by  which  we  reached  our  conclusion. 
What  is  there  in  either  man  or  nature  to  suggest 
it?  The  last  glimpse,  which  we  obtain  of  the  dying 
Christian,  is  far  from  being  an  apocalypse  of  per- 
fect manhood.  If  we  may  trust  his  descriptions  of 
himself,  he  has  never  been  more  deeply  conscious 
of  his  sinfulness,  or  of  his  need  of  the  unmerited 
grace  of  God,  than  he  is,  at  the  moment,  when  his 
spirit  flies  to  the  spiritual  world.    In  the  absence  of 


40  SERMONS   ON   THE   CHRISTIAN   LIFE. 

an  authoritative  statement,  we  should  be  compelled 
to  believe,  that  the  movement  of  the  redeemed  into 
the  next  world  is  but  one  of  a  countless  series  of 
movements  upward  toward  perfection?  We  should 
look  forward  to  the  immediate  future,  as  a  state, 
in  which  the  fires  of  new  afflictions  will  still  further 
purify  us;  and,  in  which,  new  disciplines  will  chasten 
us  to  a  higher  spiritual  beauty.  Nor  should  we  dare 
to  prophecy,  after  how  many  lives,  and  in  what  far 
off  reon,  the  declaration  will  be  made  to  our  perfected, 
spirits:  "Ye  are  now  complete,  in  the  head  of  all  prin- 
cipality and  power."  Who  would  dare  to  say, — unless 
he  could  appeal  to  the  written  revelation, — that  by 
the  purging  fires  of  a  single  life,  the  sinful  spirit  can 
be  fitted  for  communion  with  the  immaculate  God? 

The  truth  stated  in  the  text,  then,  is  distinctly  a 
revealed  truth.  Unlike  the  existence  of  God,  or  the 
guilt  of  sin,  or  the  future  judgment,  the  sole  ground 
of  our  belief  of  it  is  the  written  Word  of  God.  The 
best  that  we  could  have  believed,  without  this  dec- 
laration, is  that  belief  in  an  ascending  series  of  par- 
tial redemptions;  which,  it  would  seem,  false  teachers 
at  Colosse  attempted  to  unite  with  the  Gospel  of 
Christ.  If  this  Bible  is  not,  in  the  narrow  and  exact 
sense  of  that  phrase,  the  one  divinely  inspired  Word 
of  God,  we  have  not  a  scintilla  of  evidence — even 
though  we  dare  to  hope  that  the  Lawgiver  of  the 
universe  is  a  God  of  grace — we  have  not  a  scintilla 
of  evidence,  that  the  life  of  the  good  hereafter  is  a 
life  either  of  perfect  holiness  or  of  perfect  happiness. 

But  the  declaration  of  the  Word  of  God  is  clear. 
For  the  Christian,  the  next  life  is  ultimate.  And 
here  arises  the  solemn  question.  If  his  life  is  ulti- 
mate, is  not  the  next  life  of  the  wicked  ultimate 
also?     In  the  light  of  the  text,  what  a  tremendous 


THE    COMPLETION    OF   MAN    IN    CHRIST.  41 

import  is  seen  to  belong  to  this  brief  and  brittle 
career  of  ours  !  Imperceptibly  the  movement  of  time 
is  bearing  men  forward  to  the  end  of  life.  But  where 
does  it  place  them?  In  a  new  probation?  Where 
does  the  Bible,  even,  suggest  that  belief?  Certainly 
not  in  the  truth  that  I  am  repeating.  If  not  here, 
where  else  in  the  Scriptures?  And,  if  not  in  these 
Scriptures,  where?  In  the  revelation  of  God  in  Nat- 
ure? I  know  no  such  intimation  anywhere.  All 
things  in  Nature  point  to  the  life  beyond  as  the  life 
of  destiny.  From  every  place,  whence  comes  any 
intimation  of  the  future  world,  comes  an  intimation 
like  the  announcement  made  by  the  preacher  in  the 
metaphor,  "If  the  tree  fall  toward  the  south,  or  to- 
ward the  north,  in  the  place  where  the  tree  falleth, 
there  it  shall  be." 

III.  We  shall  gain  a  new  impression  of  the  value 
of  the  text,  by  holding  before  us  a  third  truth, 
namely,  that  the  completion  of  man  which  it  pre- 
diets,  involves  the  perpetuity  of  the  human  personality. 
"  Ye  are  complete  in  Him."  The  completed  man 
will  forever  remain  human;  and  his  surroundings 
will  be  adjusted  to  his  humanity.  The  perfection, 
which  the  human  spirit  will  attain  in  Christ,  will 
be  personal;  after  its  own  kind. 

This  seems  only  a  truism;  but  personal  immortal- 
ity is  a  distinctively  Biblical  revelation.  The  greatest 
ethnic  religions,  in  their  promise  of  immortality, 
make   immortality  of  no  effect.*      They  teach  that 

*I  refer  of  course  to  Brahmanism  and  Buddhism.  It  is  not 
disputed,  I  believe,  that  the  absorption  of  the  individual  into 
the  universal  soul  is  the  highest  promise  made  by  Brahmanism 
to  the  devotee.  The  question  whether,  in  Buddhism,  Nirvana 
is  absorption  or  extinction  divides  scholars.  But  it  is  still  true, 
that,  if  Buddhism  offers  immortality  at  all,  it  offers  it  only  in  the 
form  of  absorption  into  the  infinite  and  impersonal  being. 


42  SERMONS   ON   THE    CHRISTIAN   LIFE. 

man  is  immortal,  only  as  he  is  swallowed  up  and  lost 
in  infinite  and  impersonal  being.  But  the  "Word  of 
God,  in  its  promise  of  completion,  does  not  make  "  a 
promise  to  the  ear"  which  it  "breaks  to  the  hope." 
It  does  not  offer  a  stone  to  those  whom  it  tells 
to  hope  for  bread.  It  does  not  promise  complete- 
ness to  men,  and  then  describe  a  completeness  which 
destroys  humanity,  or  even  individuality.  Whatever 
shall  be  the  surprises  of  the  future  life;  between  the 
imperfect  soul  here  and  the  perfected  soul  hereafter, 
there  will  be  the  bond  of  the  same  unity,  that  exists 
here  between  the  child  and  the  man.  The  two  lives 
will  be  two  lives  of  one  person.  And  just  as  hope 
now  looks  forward  to  that  future  life,  so  memory 
will  then  look  back  over  this  present  life.  On  what- 
ever new  objects  they  shall  be  employed,  we  shall 
possess  the  faculties  and  capacities  which  are  ours 
now  in  the  life  beyond.  It  is  ourselves,  who  are  com- 
plete in  Christ. 

This  truth  should  dissipate  the  doubt  which  some- 
times pains  us,  touching  recognitions  in  the  future 
world.  There  are  few  who  have  not  asked  the  ques- 
tion :  u  Shall  I  know  those  from  whom  death  has  sep- 
arated me?"  And  thoughts  of  their  completion  in 
the  presence  of  God,  in  the  company  of  angels,  and 
by  means  of  celestial  activities,  awakened  doubts,  and 
sometimes  caused  new  and  more  poignant  griefs. 

But  let  us  remember,  that  whatever  is  involved  in 
our  completion,  it  is  still  ourselves  who  shall  be  com- 
pleted. The  Abraham,  with  whom  we  shall  sit  down 
in  the  kingdom  of  God,  is  the  same  Abraham,  who, 
even  when  on  earth,  looked  for  a  city  which  had 
foundations;  with  a  vivid  recollection  still  of  that 
awful  trial  when  the  word  was  spoken :  "  Take  thy 
son,  thine  only  son :  and  offer  him  for  a  burnt-offer- 


THE    COMPLETION    OF    MAN   IN    CHRIST.  43 

ing."  The  Moses,  who  came  from  heaven  to  a 
mountain  in  Canaan,  is  the  same  Moses,  who  went 
to  heaven  from  a  mountain  of  Moab.  If  we  shall 
know  these,  doubt  not,  that  we  shall  know  those 
also,  whom  God  has  taken  from  our  care  or  love.  It 
doth  not  yet  appear  what  we  shall  be.  But  we  shall 
be  ourselves,  at  least.  And  friends,  gone  before  us, 
will  still  be  friends;  and  we  shall  know  and  love 
them,  there,  as  here. 

IV.  I  remark,  in  the  fourth  place,  that  this  com- 
pleteness will  consist  largely  in  perfect  and  eternal 
harmony  between  the  powers  of  man  himself.  I 
suppose  that  a  chief  result,  as  well  as  proof,  of  the  in- 
completeness of  man,  is  the  war  within  himself.  Who 
does  not  know  what  I  mean,  when  I  speak  of  the  war 
of  contending  tastes  and  passions  and  powers  in  the 
same  man?  Each  of  us  is  the  theater  of  an  incessant 
battle.  We  are  conscious  of  the  shock  of  it  every  day; 
and  our  very  dreams  attest,  that  sleep  itself  brings  no 
cessation  of  the  warfare.  Men  of  all  beliefs  have 
confessed  it.  The  heathen  poet,  who  has  written :  "  I 
see  and  approve  the  right — I  detest  and  follow  the 
wrong;"  and  the  Christian  Apostle,  who  has  recorded 
the  confession :  "  I  find  a  law  in  my  members  warring 
against  the  law  of  my  mind."  The  animal  and  the 
spiritual  natures,  the  tastes  and  the  moral  sense,  the 
physical  appetite  and  the  nobler  ambitions — I  need 
only  to  repeat  phrases  like  these,  to  summon  before 
all  of  you  a  picture,  which  each  one  knows  to  be  a 
faithful  portrait  of  his  own  career :  a  career,  of 
which  the  distinctcst  feature,  is  an  incessant  and  de- 
structive war  with  himself.  This  war,  as  I  have  said, 
is  the  result,  as  well  as  the  evidence,  of  the  incom- 
pleteness of  man. 

But  when  man  shall  be  perfected,  this  war  will 


44  SERMONS   ON   THE   CHRISTIAN   LIFE. 

cease.  The  Apostle  tells  us,  that  we  shall  be  com- 
plete in  Christ,  because  Christ  is  the  head  of  all  prin- 
cipality and  power.  Before  we  can  rest  from  this 
battle  in  ourselves,  oui  powers,  now  warring  with 
each  other,  must  be  united  in  loyal  devotion  to  an 
inspiring  object.  All  of  us  know,  that  when  such  an 
object  is  vividly  before  a  man  or  a  people,  internal 
strife  dies;  and  the  man  or  the  nation  develops  through 
its  unity  before  uncomputed  strength.  Thus,  internal 
contests  died,  when  the  thought  of  supreme  peril 
awakened  our  people's  latent  love  of  country.  And 
there  resulted  on  the  instant,  an  amazing  develop- 
ment of  natural  resource.  So  does  a  man  become  a 
unit,  and  discover  new  power,  and  rise  toward  com- 
pletion, when  he  gives  himself  to  the  all-inspiring 
Object.  So,  powers  and  tastes,  which  before  warred 
with  each  other,  are  united  and  developed  through 
their  loyal  devotion  to  their  common  Lord.  Thus 
we  become  complete  in  Christ.  And  it  is  vain  to 
think  of  completion  without  Him.  In  this,  as  in 
every  other  view  of  man's  relations  to  Christ,  there 
is  none  other  name  given  under  heaven  among  men 
whereby  they  can  be  saved.  For  Jesus  Christ  is  the 
only  object  that  can  harmonize  man's  powers  per- 
fectly and  forever.  It  is  not  needful  that  I  dwell 
on  this  truth.  It  is  enough  to  say  that  because  He 
is  God,  He  is  inexhaustible  by  man.  It  is  on  the 
Deity  of  Christ  that  the  Apostle  dwells  with  em- 
phasis in  connection  with  the  text.  His  kingdom 
embraces  the  universe,  and  is  without  end;  for  He 
is  the  head  of  all  principality  and  power.  The  end 
of  this  kingdom — the  historical  unfolding,  to  the 
view  of  the  universe,  of  the  glory  of  its  King — is 
the  loftiest  which  can  appeal  to  man.  And  in  the 
King  himself,  dwells  all  the  fullness  of  the  Godhead 


THE    COMPLETION   OF    MAN    IN    CHRIST.  45 

bodily.  Man  may  exhaust  other  objects,  as  motives 
and  inspirations.  But  throughout  eternity,  new  dis- 
coveries of  God's  nature,  and  new  developments  of 
his  universal  kingdom  will  educate  the  powers,  and 
intensify  the  holy  feelings  of  the  redeemed. 

I  have  thus,  in  simplest  outline,  endeavored  to  ex- 
plain the  meaning  of  man's  completeness  in  Christ. 
As  I  have  said,  it  is  impossible  to  portray  the  com- 
pleted man.  But  enough  has  been  said  to  make 
evident  the  truth,  that  Jesus  Christ  is  a  neces- 
sity in  order  to  our  completion.  We  find  within 
us  colossal  powers  as  yet  undeveloped,  and  infinite 
capacities.  We  find  the  former  engaged  in  each 
other's  destruction ;  and  the  latter  unsatisfied  by  the 
world  in  which  we  live.  The  result  is  a  misery  which 
grows  apace;  and  which  points,  not  uncertainly 
forward,  to  hopeless  woe.  We  are  tempted  to  cry 
out,  "Why  hast  thou  made  man  in  vain?"  I  put  to 
every  thoughtful  man  and  woman,  the  question;  if 
the  daily  round  of  eating  and  drinking,  of  buying 
and  selling,  is  to  be  the  outcome  of  the  powers  with 
which  you  are  endowed, — is  it  not  true  that  you  have 
been  made  in  vain?  Is  life  worth  the  living,  if  this 
is  all  ?  Does  it  not  become  a  conscious  curse,  in 
proportion  as  we  are  conscious  of  our  powers  and 
godlike  capacities  ?  But,  here  is  the  revelation  of 
another  destiny.  We  may  be  complete  in  the  head 
of  all  principality  and  power.  The  dignity  which 
we  now  feel  to  be  only  possible,  may  become  actual 
in  Him.  This  living  temple  may  be  rebuilt.  These 
powers  may  be  harmonized  and  unified.  They  may 
find  objects  worthy  of  their  most  loyal  devotion. 
This  is  the  meaning  of  Redemption.  Thus  the  Gos- 
pel which  announces  it  is  a  Gospel  of  eternal  life,  in- 
deed.   When  the  Word  of  God  says  to  us :  "  Believe 


46  SERMONS    ON    THE    CHRISTIAN   LIFE. 

on  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  you  shall  be  saved," 
it  means  unspeakably  more  than  that  we  shall  escape 
an  external  hell,  and  be  given  an  external  heaven. 
It  means  the  union  of  all  these  scattered  and  war- 
ring powers  in  Christ.  In  asking  you,  therefore, 
to  submit  yourselves  to  Him,  I  appeal  to  the  senti- 
ment of  self-respect  within  you.  For  the  perfect  man 
is  possible,  only  in  Christ.  Without  Him,  all  that  you 
possess  of  wealth,  or  reputation,  or  talent,  are  less 
than  nothing  and  vanity.  For  you  possess  nothing 
apart  from  Him,  that  shall  save  them  in  the  day  of 
visitation.  Give  yourselves,  therefore,  to  the  Re- 
deemer of  men.  All  talent  will  find  its  aim,  all 
powers  their  appropriate  objects,  all  capacity  its  ful- 
fillment, in  Him  who  is  the  head  of  all  principality 
and  power.  You  will  be  satisfied  with  His  like- 
ness ;  and  become  in  character,  as  in  title,  redeemed 
children  of  the  Most  High. 

One  word  more,  and  I  have  done.  The  preacher 
of  the  Gospel  must  always  feel  that  he  is  addressing 
suffering  people;  needing  to  hear  some  truth  of  con- 
solation. Such  a  truth  is  this  great  promise,  upon 
which  I  have  spoken  this  morning. 

We  are  bewildered  by  the  events  which  befall  us; 
so  many  of  which  are  disappointing;  so  many  others 
of  which  are  sources  of  positive  and  terrible  suffer- 
ing; all  of  which,  so  far  as  their  final  issue  is  con- 
cerned, are,  to  the  view  of  reason,  mysterious.  What 
is  the  reason,  what  is  to  be  the  end  of  them,  we  can 
not  tell.  But  read  again  these  words  of  the  inspired 
Apostle :  "  Ye  are  complete  in  Him,  who  is  the  head 
of  all  principality  and  power."  What  a  sublime  and 
inspiring  truth  do  the  words  announce!  The  truth 
that  there  is  One  above  all  the  hosts  of  God,  and 
above  all  the  forces  of  Nature,  guiding  all,  control- 


THE    COMPLETION    OF    MAN    IN    CHRIST.  47 

ling  all,  Head  over  all,  that  we  may  be  complete  in 
Him.  This  is  the  revelation  of  God.  And  what,  if 
we  can  not  single  out  each  event,  and  tell  its  special 
meaning  and  mission?  Christ  is  head  over  all  things 
for  us.  Therefore,  all  things  are  ours ; — whether  Paul 
or  Apollos,  or  Cephas  or  the  world,  or  life  or  death, 
or  things  present  or  things  to  come, — all  are  ours; 
and  we  are  Christ's;  and  Christ  is  God's. 


IV. 

THE  UNIVERSALITY  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN 
BENEVOLENCE. 

And  let  us  not  be  weary  in  well-doing;  for  in  due  season,  we 
shall  reap,  if  we  faint  not.  As  we  have  therefore  opportunity, 
let  us  do  good  unto  all  men. — Galatians  vi,  9,  10. 

Three  things  are  involved  in  personal  Christianity. 
It  is  a  relation,  a  growth,  and  an  outgiving.  The 
relation  is  in  order  to  the  growth;  and  the  relation 
and  the  growth  are  in  order  to  the  outgiving.  The 
first  thing  that  the  Gospel  does  for  man,  is  to  renew 
his  relation  to  God  in  Jesus  Christ.  He  is  forgiven, 
he  is  accepted,  he  is  justified.  Henceforth,  he  stands 
in  an  entirely  new  relation  to  God,  to  events,  to 
death,  and  to  the  future  life.  All  things  are  his;  for 
he  is  Christ's,  and  Christ  is  God's. 

But  his  justification  does  not  terminate  in  itself. 
It  is  the  condition  of  his  sanctification.  He  is  ac- 
cepted in  Christ,  that  he  may  grow  into  the  likeness 
of  Christ.  This  is  the  second  element  of  personal 
Christianity. 

But  we  have  not  yet  exhausted  it.  No  man  liveth 
to  himself.  This  is  true  especially  of  Christians. 
We  remain  in  this  world  for  others.     Here  we  come 

(48) 


UNIVERSALITY    OF  CHRISTIAN    BENEVOLENCE.  49 

upon  the  third  element  of  personal  Christianity. 
This  new  relation  in  which  we  stand  to  God,  and 
this  growth  of  our  souls  into  the  image  of  Christ  are 
in  order  to  the  outgiving  of  our  lives  for  our  fellow 
men.  This  Christian  benevolence  is  the  element  of  the 
Christian  life  which  the  text  brings  to  view:  "And 
let  us  not  be  weary  in  well-doing;  for  in  due  season, 
we  shall  reap,  if  we  faint  not.  As  we  have  opportu- 
nity therefore,  let  us  do  good  unto  all  men." 

I  shall  not  go  beyond  the  text,  in  speaking  of  the 
Christian  benevolence.  We  shall  find  subjects  enough 
to  employ  our  time,  and  interest  enough  to  engage 
our  attention,  in  the  various  aspects  of  the  single  qual- 
ity of  universality,  which  the  text  indicates  as  its  dis- 
tinctive trait.  "What  I  mean  by  the  various  aspects 
of  the  universality  of  the  Christian  benevolence,  will 
be  understood,  when  I  sa}^  these  five  things  of  it. 
Its  objects  are  all  men;  Let  us  do  good  unto  all 
men.  It  seeks  their  whole  welfare;  Let  us  do  good 
unto  all  men.  It  employs  the  whole  Church;  Let 
us,  that  is,  all  Christians,  do  good  unto  all  men.  It 
seizes  every  occasion;  As  we  have  opportunity,  let  us 
do  good  unto  all  men.  It  believes  that  all  Chris- 
tian outgiving  will  be  blessed;  Let  us  not  be  weary; 
for  in  due  season,  we  shall  reap,  if  we  faint  not. — I 
shall  dwell  briefly  on  each  of  these  aspects. 

I.  First,  then,  the  Christian  beneficence  contrasts 
all  other  beneficence,  in  that  it  contemplates  the  race. 
It  looks  out  on  men  as  men ;  as  members  of  one  fam- 
ily. It  docs  not  regard  the  adventitious  differences 
which  separate  them.  Differences  of  race  or  of  sta- 
tion, even  differences  of  morality,  prove  no  barriers 
to  the  outgoing  of  Christian  love,  and  the  outgiving 
of  the  Christian  life.  It  contemplates  men  as  made 
of  one  blood,  as  involved  in  a  common  ruin,  and  as 


50  SERMONS    ON    THE    CHRISTIAN   LIFE. 

in  need  of  the  same  salvation.  It  sets  aside  no  man 
as  too  abandoned  for  redemption.  It  overlooks  no 
other  man  as  too  good  for  spiritual  destruction.  In 
this  sense,  as  in  another,  it  is  true,  that  in  Christ 
Jesus,  there  is  neither  barbarian,  Scythian,  bond  nor 
free.  Christ  is  not  only  all  in  all,  but  all  to  all. 
"Let  us  do  good  to  all  men"  says  the  Apostle  to 
the  Churches  of  Galatia. 

How  strikingly  this  trait  appears  in  the  invitations 
of  the  Gospel !  There  are  special  appeals  in  the 
Gospel  to  special  classes.  But  the  tenderest  ap- 
peals of  Prophet,  of  Saviour,  and  Apostle,  are  those 
which  are  meant  to  find  a  response  in  every  heart. 
Isaiah  is  never  more  eloquent  than  when  he  cries; 
"Ho!  every  one  that  thirsteth,  come  ye  to  the 
waters."  Our  Lord  never  more  strikingly  reveals 
his  love  than  when  he  says;  "Come  unto  me,  all 
ye  that  labor,  and  I  will  give  you  rest."  In  one  of 
the  most  profound  discourses  of  Jesus,  preserved  in 
the  New  Testament,  the  statement  is  made,  that  the 
outlook  Of  the  Father's  love  was  toward  the  race. 
"  God  so  loved  the  world,  that  he  gave  his  Son,  that 
whosoever  believeth  on  him  might  have  life."  The 
Saviour's  last  commission  imposed  on  the  Church 
the  duty  of  preaching  the  Gospel  to  every  creature. 
And  the  last  invitation  in  the  New  Testament,  is  the 
invitation;  "And  whosoever  will,  let  him  take  the 
water  of  life  freely." 

Statements  like  these  are  so  familiar,  that  we  fail 
to  grasp  their  significance.  But  a  moment's  reflec- 
tion will  show,  how  strikingly  they  place  the  Gospel 
as  a  system  of  benevolence  in  contrast  with  other 
systems,  and  with  the  beneficence  of  individual  men- 
For  other  religions  are  limited  by  racial  or  geographical 
boundaries.     Other  acts  of  beneficence  are  intended 


UNIVERSALITY    OF    CHRISTIAN    BENEVOLENCE.  51 

to  benefit  single  classes.  Other  promptings  of  love 
need  to  be  reinforced  by  considerations  which  bound 
the  gifts  of  charity.  It  is  a  class  in  the  community 
for  whom  we  labor.  It  is  the  fact  that  they  belong 
to  our  family,  or  to  our  neighborhood,  or  our  country, 
that  excites  our  sympathies  and  impels  our  aid. 
You  will  not  misunderstand  me,  of  course.  I  am  not 
decrying  the  philanthropic  labors  or  sacrifices  that 
are  addressed  to  the  alleviation  of  the  wretchedness 
of  specific  classes.  Not  at  all.  I  do  not  impugn  the 
motives  of  those  engaged  in  them.  This  kind  of 
beneficence  but  illustrates  the  glory  of  the  Gospel 
itself.  For  it  is  most  abundant  where  first  the  Gos- 
pel has  given  character  to  the  people.  But  this  also 
is  true:  that  the  Gospel  of  Christ  alone,  teaches  us 
to  look  out  on  men  as  men.  It  alone  sees  in  every 
child  of  Adam  a  child  of  God.  It  alone  teaches  ev- 
ery member  of  the  human  family  to  say  "  My  Father 
which  art  in  heaven."  It  alone  assures  us  that  there 
is  no  one  "  so  vile,  or  unlovely,  or  lost,"  but  he  may  be 
fitted  for  fellowship  with  angels,  and  immediate  com- 
munion with  God  himself.  "  I,  if  I  be  lifted  up,"  said 
Christ,  "will  draw  all  men  unto  me;  "and  the  history 
of  the  Church  of  Christ  has  made  nothing  more 
clear,  than  the  adaptation  of  Christianity  to  the  peo- 
ple of  every  age,  and  of  every  land.  Hence  the 
Christian  faith  has  ever  been  a  missionary  faith,  look- 
ing forward  to  the  conquest  of  the  world;  predicting 
a  universal  peace,  a  universal  brotherhood.  No  race 
is  favored  in  the  consummation  of  all  things.  The 
glory  and  honor  of  the  kings  of  the  ivhole  earth  are 
to  adorn  the  new  city  of  God. 

This  being  the  outlook  of  the  Gospel,  the  Gos- 
pel must  promote  a  like  beneficence  in  Christians. 
And  so  it  does.     Paul,  though  a  Hebrew  of  the  He- 


52  SERMONS    ON  THE    CHRISTIAN    LIFE. 

brews,  becomes  the  Apostle  to  the  Gentiles;  but  his 
devotion  to  the  Gentiles  does  not  weaken  his  love 
for  his  "kinsmen  according  to  the  flesh."  Peter, — 
though  sent  to  the  Jews,  and  though  at  the  first  a 
narrow  man, — under  the  influence  of  Christianity, 
rises  above  his  prejudices,  leaps  all  national  barriers, 
and  rejoices  that  on  the  Gentiles  is  poured  the  gift 
of  the  Holy  Ghost.  So,  to-day,  Christianity  alone 
is  missionary  to  all  peoples  and  to  every  soul. 

Without  dwelling  longer  on  this  aspect  of  our  sub- 
ject, let  me  say  only,  that  it  behooves  you  and  me  to 
see  to  it,  that  we  have  caught  this  spirit.  There  is  a 
way,  common  enough  in  our  churches,  of  quoting  the 
proverb,  "  Charity  begins  at  home,"  which  means,  I 
fear,  "  Charity  should  stay  at  home."  This,  whatever 
it  is,  is  not  the  Christian  spirit.  The  cause  of  Foreign 
Missions  deserves  our  support,  if  for  no  other  reason, 
because  it  lifts  us  above  the  spirit  of  class,  and  sect, 
and  neighborhood;  yes,  and  the  spirit  of  patriotism — 
for  there  is  a  higher  spirit  than  patriotism — and  asso- 
ciates us  with  Him  who  loved  the  world,  and  gave 
Himself  for  the  world,  and  bade  us  believe  that  the 
world  will  one  day  be  redeemed  to  God. 

Moreover,  this  spirit  of  universal  charity  can  in- 
spire every  Christian  labor,  however  limited  in  space 
or  the  number  of  its  objects.  We  can  labor  for  men 
as  men;  and  in  our  labors  for  their  well-being,  wc 
can  regard  no  man  as  hopeless.  I  do  not  doubt,  that 
you  are  brought  into  contact  with  many  souls,  who 
seem  utterly  incapable  of  receiving  any  real  good. 
Do  not  despair.  The  Gospel  is  for  them.  Christ 
came  to  all  men;  to  call  sinners  to  repentance;  to 
seek  and  to  save  the  lost.  We  shall  be  putting  dis- 
honor on  Christianity,  if  our  love  and  our  labor  are 
not  given  to  them,  in  the  full  assurance  of  hope. 


UNIVERSALITY    OF   CHRISTIAN    BENEVOLENCE.  53 

For  their  wants  are  what  our  wants  were;  and,  if 
between  us  and  them  there  seems  to  be  a  radical 
difference,  it  is  because  we  are  what  we  are,  only  by 
the  grace  revealed  in  the  Gospel  of  the  Son  of  God. 

II.  But  the  Christian  charity  not  only  seeks  all  men 
as  its  objects.  It  contemplates  their  entire  welfare. 
"Let  us  do  good  unto  all  men."  The  word,  here  trans- 
translated  good,  is  made  specific  by  the  definite  article. 
Literally,  it  is  "the  good  thing,"  the  thing  which  in 
the  circumstances  is  the  best.  And  it  suggests,  if  it 
does  not  formally  state  the  truth,  that  the  Christian 
beneficence  aims  at  accomplishing  the  central  and 
so  the  controlling  good.  This  also  is  a  trait,  which 
distinguishes  it  from  all  others.  I  do  not  criticise 
the  aim  of  other  benevolence.  I  state  only  a  fact, 
when  I  say  that  benevolence,  when  not  inspired  and 
directed  by  Christianity,  stops  with  good  which  is 
not  central  and  dominating.  It  regards  its  objects 
in  but  one  or  in  but  a  few  of  their  relations.  Usu- 
ally, it  is  prompted  by  the  sensibilities,  which  have 
been  powerfully  wrought  upon  by  specific  forms  of  hu- 
man misery ;  and  to  these  it  applies  specific  remedies. 

Now,  the  beneficence,  that  is  born  of  Christianity, 
while  it  excludes  no  form  of  charity,  always  attacks 
the  central  and  radical  misery  of  humanity.  Its 
theory  is,  if  you  relieve  that,  you  will  finally  re- 
lieve all.  Thus  its  great  Founder  healed  every  form 
of  disease,  and  pointed  to  his  miracles  of  mercy 
as  evidence  that  he  was  sent  of  God ;  but  He  did 
not  announce  to  them  the  crowning  proof  of  his  divine 
mission,  until  he  told  the  messengers  from  John, 
that  to  the  poor  the  Gospel  was  preached. 

The  conduct  of  the  Church  of  Christ,  from  that 
day  until  now,  has  been  formed  upon  the  conduct  of 
her  divine  Head.     Her  path  throughout  the  world 


54  SERMONS    ON    THE    CHRISTIAN   LIFE. 

and  down  the  ages,  has  been  illumined  by  institu- 
tions to  alleviate  all  forms  of  human  suffering.  She 
has  made,  in  the  human  society  which  she  controls, 
the  dogma  that  "only  the  fittest  survive,"  an  untruth  ; 
by  her  care  for  the  poor,  the  crippled,  the  blind,  the 
dumb,  the  insane.  Nor  is  her  beneficence  accurately 
measured  by  annual  statistics.  Those,  who  have  given 
study  to  the  subject,  assure  us,  that  were  the  gifts  in 
our  Christian  land  directed  to  their  proper  objects; 
were  they  made  economically  to  flow  in  proper  chan- 
nels, no  man  or  woman  would  want  bread. 

But  the  Christian  charity  does  not  end  with  the 
bestowment  of  bread ;  the  temporary  relief  of  special 
sources  of  misery.  In  making  the  conversion  of  man 
from  sin  its  aim,  it  strikes  at  the  central  evil,  the  root 
of  all  the  rest,  and  so  provides  for  every  kind  of  good. 
I  say,  it  so  provides  for  every  kind  of  good ;  and  be- 
stows it  too,  if  the  history  of  Christianity  proves  any 
thing.  This,  at  least,  is  the  aim  of  the  Gospel.  It 
leaves  no  human  want  unprovided  for.  It  leaves  no 
human  relation  unblessed.  When  Christ  saves  a  na- 
tion, He  transfigures  the  whole  national  life.  "When 
He  shall  save  the  world,  men  will  not  only  be  re- 
deemed from  the  punishment  and  dominion  of  sin; 
but  a  higher  beauty  will  adorn  the  products  of  art, 
a  purer  social  life  will  bless  the  homes  of  men,  the 
blood  of  immortal  youth  will  course  through  their 
veins,  and  even  unconscious  nature  will  put  on  a 
new  glory,  at  the  manifestation  of  the  sons  of  God. 
So,  too,  when  a  single  man  is  saved.  It  is  not  alone 
that  there  is  no  more  condemnation,  and  that  a  new 
character  fits  him  for  heaven.  The  whole  life  is  re- 
deemed. A  new  joy  lights  up  the  home;  a  new  pride 
of  life  gives  birth  to  honest  labor  and  self-respect;  a 
higher  mental  life  is  born  of  his  communion  with 


UNIVERSALITY    OF    CHRISTIAN    BENEVOLENCE.         55 

God;  and  though  he  remains,  for  the  time,  subject 
to  death,  yet  will  he  one  day  rejoice  in  the  redemp- 
tion of  his  body:  for  death  shall  be  swallowed  up 
in  victory. 

Thus  the  outlook  of  the  Christian  beneficence  is 
not  only  as  wide  as  the  world.  It  is  also  as  deep 
as  the  longings  of  the  human  heart.  It  not  only 
goes  out  into  all  the  world ;  but,  on  its  journey,  it 
leaves  no  relation  of  life  untouched,  or  unblessed.  It 
not  only  leaps  the  bounds  of  class  and  neighborhood; 
but  it  leaps  also  the  bounds  of  sense.  It  provides 
not  only  for  time.     It  fits  man  also  for  eternity. 

I  wish  that  we  might  have  clearly  before  us  this 
aspect  of  the  universality  of  the  Christian  beneficence, 
when  giving  and  laboring.  In  giving  your  lives  to 
the  redemption  of  men  through  Christ,  you  are  re- 
deeming the  whole  man  unto  God.  For  the  Captain 
of  our  salvation  does  not  mean  that  his  conquest 
of  this  world  shall  be  a  partial  triumph.  His  vic- 
tory will  be  the  restitution  of  all  things:  and  there  is 
not  a  faculty  or  a  lofty  possibility  of  man's  nature, 
which  will  not  join  in  the  anthem  of  praise  unto  Him, 
who  has  loved  us,  and  redeemed  us  by  his  blood  unto 
God. 

III.  But  the  Christian  beneficence  is  universal,  not 
only  because  it  contemplates  the  whole  world  and 
every  want,  but  also  because  it  employs  the  whole 
Church.  Let  us,  that  is,  all  Christians — not  ministers 
alone,  but  people ;  not  people  of  five  talents  only,  but 
of  one  talent — "  Let  us  do  good  unto  all  men." 

It  is  true,  that  in  founding  his  Church,  our  Lord 
appointed  special  officers  for  the  fulfillment  of  special 
duties.  He  gave  some  apostles,  and  some  prophets, 
and  some  evangelists,  and  some  pastors  and  teach- 
ers; for  the  perfecting  of  the  saints,  for  the  work  of 


56  SERMONS    ON    THE    CHRISTIAN    LIFE. 

the  ministry.  And  we  should  observe  his  order,  and 
honor  the  offices  which  He  has  appointed.  Free  as 
we  are  in  this  dispensation  of  the  Spirit,  there  is  a 
divine  economy  for  the  Christian  administration. 
The  Christian  man,  or  assoeiation  of  men,  that  fails 
to  observe  this  divine  order,  will  find  labor  wasted  so 
far  forth.  But  it  is  also  true,  that  there  is  not  a  man, 
or  woman,  or  child,  whose  talents  are  not  intended 
to  be  employed.  To  every  man,  Christ  gives  his 
work.  "  Let  him  that  heareth  say,  come,"  is  the  di- 
vine call.  Nor  will  he  accept  the  excuse  that  our 
talents  are  too  few,  or  our  opportunities  too  narrow, 
or  our  means  too  limited,  for  the  outgiving  of  our 
life  in  beneficence.  In  the  parable  of  the  talents,  in 
the  story  of  the  widow  who  gave  her  all,  in  the  as- 
surance that  out  of  the  mouths  of  babes  He  has 
ordained  praise,  in  the  eloquent  words  of  the  Apostle, 
that  God  hath  chosen  the  things  which  are  not  to 
bring  to  naught  the  things  that  are;  we  are  taught, 
that  in  the  Church  of  Christ  there  is  intended  to 
be  no  useless,  no  ineffective  material.  The  entire 
Church,  as  one  body,  is  to  labor  for  the  redemption 
of  the  world. 

Let  us  learn  the  lesson  of  this  sublime  truth. 
My  friend,  poor  though  you  may  be,  or  weak,  or 
sick,  with  but  two  talents,  or  but  one,  you  are  called 
to  do  no  unimportant  work  in  the  conquest  of  the 
world.  There  is  a  work,  which  you  are  better  fitted 
to  accomplish,  than  an}-  man  on  earth ;  than  any 
angel  in  heaven.  Are  you  looking  for  it?  Filled 
with  love  of  God  and  men  are  you  seeking  it,  or 
doing  it?  Even  if  you  arc  separated  from  all  others, 
you  can  pray;  you  can  aid  the  Master  by  at  least 
saying,  from  your  soul,  "Thy  will  be  done;"  for — 
They  also  servo  who  only  stand  and  wait. 


UNIVERSALITY   OF    CHRISTIAN    BENEVOLENCE.  57 

God  grant  us  each  grace — for  each  is  called — to  see  his 
work  for  the  world,  and  in  the  spirit  of  Christ  to  do  it. 

IV.  But  not  only  because  it  seeks  all  men,  and  pro- 
vides for  every  want,  and  employs  the  whole  Church ; 
but  also  because  it  seizes  every  occasion,  is  the  Chris- 
tian beneficence  universal.  Let  us  do  °;ood  unto  all 
men,  as  we  have  opportunity. 

The  charity  of  the  world  is  a  thing  of  times  and 
seasons.  Designed  to  meet  special  wants,  and  to 
benefit  special  classes,  it  awaits  special  opportunities. 
But  since  the  wants  for  which  the  Gospel  provides, 
and  the  perils  which  it  averts,  are  those  of  every  man, 
and  exist  or  threaten  every  day  and  every  hour; 
every  place  and  every  circumstance  provide  fitting  oc- 
casion for  the  outgoing  of  Christian  love.  Of  course, 
I  do  not  mean  to  say,  that  every  place  or  hour  will 
furnish  the  opportunity  to  preach  a  sermon,  or  to  ad- 
dress a  man  or  woman  on  specifically  Christian  sub- 
jects, or  even  to  relieve  physical  want.  But  there  is 
no  place  and  no  hour,  in  which  we  can  not  let  the 
light  of  our  love  shine,  so  that  men  seeing  our  good 
works  will  glorify  our  Father  in  heaven.  The  Chris- 
tian beneficence  is  protean  in  its  forms.  Like  the 
air  of  heaven,  and  the  light  of  heaven,  and  the  water 
which  God  in  mercy  has  poured  around  the  world; 
like  the  great  unseen  forces  of  the  universe,  which 
bind  the  worlds  in  harmony,  and  bathe  them  in 
beauty;  it  adjusts  itself  to  all  times,  all  places,  and 
all  men.  There  are  no  surroundings,  from  the  midst 
of  which  it  may  not  continuously  issue  as  a  spiritual 
energy.  Think  not  that  you  have  done  revealing 
it  when  you  have  given  money,  or  taught  your  chil- 
dren, or  spoken  with  your  lips  for  Christ.  Was  our 
Lord  beneficent,  only  when  he  healed  the  sick,  or  pro- 
claimed the  glad  tidings  of  great  joy?     Was  there  a 


58  SERMONS   ON   THE   CHRISTIAN   LIFE. 

moment  of  his  life  in  which  his  love  did  not  warm 
and  illumine  the  world  he  came  to  save?  So  must 
it  be  with  us.  For,  in  the  last  analysis,  the  Chris- 
stian  beneficence  is  the  loving  and  self-sacrificing 
spirit  of  Christ ;  and  this  spirit,  we  can  carry  every- 
where. No  surroundings  are  too  secular  to  hide  it. 
If  within  us,  it  will  shine  out  at  home,  in  business, 
among  the  poor,  in  the  church,  on  the  street.  But 
why  try  to  catalogue  the  places  and  times  befitting 
its  outgoing  ?  It  is  for  all  times  and  for  all  places. 
By  its  constant  outshining  more  than  in  specific  laborj 
is  this  world  to  be  rescued  from  its  sins. 

V.  Once  more,  not  only  because  its  outlook  is  the 
whole  world, — because  its  end  is  the  redemption  of  the 
whole  man,— because  it  engages  the  whole  Church, 
and  seizes  every  opportunity, — is  the  Christian  be- 
neficence the  universal  beneficence;  but  also  because 
it  proceeds  in  the  faith,  that  all  its  outgoing  will  be 
successful.  Let  us  not  be  weary  in  well-doing.  For 
in  due  season  we  shall  reap,  if  we  faint  not. 

There  are  two  verses  of  Scripture  which  I  am  never 
tired  of  repeating;  and  which,  as  you  know,  I  often 
repeat  from  this  pulpit.  "When  I  despair  of  unrav- 
eling the  tangled  skein  of  occurrence;  when  I  am 
about  to  fall  into  despair  at  the  many  afflictions  that 
befall  the  righteous,  and  the  calling  away  from 
earth  of  good  men — I  recall  the  sublime  declara- 
tion of  the  inspired  Apostle:  "All  things  work  to- 
gether for  good  to  them  that  love  God."  When  I  am 
despondent  about  my  own  work  as  a  minister,  dis- 
posed to  believe,  as  all  of  us  are,  that  I  am  of  little 
use;  that  my  weakness  is  insufficient  as  against  the 
obstacles  to  successful  work  for  Christ — I  reanimate 
my  drooping  hope  with  the  not  less  sublime  assur- 
ance: "No  labor  is  in  vain  in  the  Lord." 


UNIVERSALITY    OF   CHRISTIAN    BENEVOLENCE.  59 

It  is  the  union  of  these  two  assurances  of  God  that 
I  would  press  upon  you  this  morning.  Your  labor, 
if  in  the  Lord,  shall  not  be  in  vain.  And  this,  not 
only  because  you  will  be  blessed,  but  also  because 
the  universe  is  on  your  side.  All  things  are  yours; 
all  things  are  working  together  for  your  good.  And 
just  this  is  the  truth  which  the  Apostle  brings  to  view 
in  the  context.  Christian  beneficence  is  the  outgoing 
of  the  soul  in  love  and  sacrifice;  and  so  is  the  outwork- 
ing of  a  great  law  that  never  fails.  He  that  soweth  to 
the  spirit  shall  reap  of  the  spirit  life  everlasting;  not 
for  himself  alone,  but  for  mankind.  Therefore,  he 
adds,  "Let  us  not  be  weary  in  well-doing,  for  in  due 
season  we  shall  reap  if  we  faint  not."  "We  shall 
reap."  That  is  the  promise.  "  He  that  soweth  shall 
reap."  That  is  the  law.  !No  labor  is  in  vain  in  the 
Lord.  If  we  believe  the  Gospel,  if  we  believe  in  God 
the  Father  Almighty,  and  in  Jesus  Christ  his  Son 
our  Lord,  how  can  we  doubt  this  assurance?  Let 
us  go  forth  to  Christian  labor  for  men  and  women, 
inspired  by  this  great  truth.  We  are  sowing  seed, 
wrhose  abundant  harvest  God  has  predicted. 

"  Let  us  set  the  plow  with  a  joy  akin 
To  the  joy  of  putting  the  sickle  in." 

Let  us  pray  for  more  faith  in  this  great  consum- 
mation. To-morrow  and  to-morrow,  and  again  to- 
morrow, let  us  labor  and  faint  not.  We  may  not 
see  here  the  victory  which  we  are  winning.  We 
may  not  see  the  fruit  whose  seed  we  are  planting. 
But,  if  God  be  true,  our  labors  can  not  fail.  In 
due  season, — whether  in  time  or  eternity, — in  due 
season,  we  shall  reap  if  we  faint  not. 

From  the  subject,  thus  imperfectly  brought  be- 
fore us,  let  us  learn,  first,  the  majesty  of  the  Gos- 


GO  SERMONS    ON    THE    CHRISTIAN    LIFE. 

pel.  I  know  no  aspect  of  the  Gospel  that  more 
strikingly  reveals  its  sublimity  than  this.  It  is 
no  narrow  religion  with  which  as  Christians  we  are 
allied.  It  is  no  small  scheme  to  which  we  have 
pledged  our  souls'  support.  The  world  is  its  field. 
Every  want  of  the  soul  is  its  object.  All  time  is 
its  opportunity.  The  whole  Church  is  its  mission- 
ary. The  whole  universe  is  its  ally.  Did  such  a 
Gospel  spring  from  man?  Was  it  conceived  and 
brought  forth  on  the  earth?  The  greatness  of  the 
conception,  alone,  is  enough  to  make  reasonable  the 
belief  in  its  Divinity. 

Let  us  learn,  also,  to  be  ashamed  of  our  lack  of 
faith  in  the  Gospel's  triumphs.  If  victory  does  not 
wait  upon  .a  Gospel  to  be  described,  as  this  has 
been;  "Who  will  show  us  any  good?"  I  know  the 
sinfulness  of  the  human  heart.  But,  where  sin  has 
abounded,  grace  much  more  abounds.  Could  the 
Church,  in  the  spirit  I  have  described,  move  for- 
ward to  the  conquest  of  men,  the  redemption  of 
the  earth  would  soon  draw  nigh.  And  if  we,  each 
in  his  own  lot,  would  labor  in  the  same  spirit,  doubt 
not,  that  we  also  would  soon  see  the  strongholds 
of  sin  and  wretchedness  fall  before  our  eyes. 

Finally,  in  this  spirit,  would  I  call  on  all  before 
me  to  accept  the  large  provisions  which  God  has 
made  for  them  in  the  Gospel.  This  redemption  is 
for  you ;  because  it  is  for  all  men.  It  is  the  redemp- 
tion you  need;  for  it  provides  for  every  want  of  your 
souls.  It  is  the  only  redemption  offered  you;  or,  if 
there  seems  to  be  another,  this  is  the  only  real  re- 
demption. The  Christian  beneficence  that  would 
bestow  it  is,  as  I  have  said,  the  Spirit  of  Christ; 
of  Him  who  seeks  and  saves  the  lost.  He  is  even 
now  speaking  to  you  in  infinite  love:    "You   are 


UNIVERSALITY    OF    CHRISTIAN   BENEVOLENCE.  61 

lost,  I  will  save  you.  You  are  wretched,  I  will  give 
you  perfect  bliss.  Your  spirit  is  hungry  for  right- 
eousness, I  will  feed  you.  You  are  naked,  I  will 
clothe  you.  You  are  in  prison,  under  the  condem- 
nation of  the  law,  I  will  release  you."  Hear  and 
heed  the  words  of  the  infinitely  benevolent  Son  of 
God,  and  Saviour  of  the  world. 


V. 
THE  CHRISTIAN  CASUISTRY. 

I,  therefore,  the  prisoner  of  the  Lord,  beseech  you  that  ye  walk 
worthy  of  the  vocation  wherewith  ye  are  called. — Ephesians  iv,  1. 

The  field  of  moral  indifference,  which  lies  between 
the  region  of  the  inherently  good  and  the  region  of 
the  inherently  evil,  is  a  far  wider  field  than  most  of 
us,  perhaps,  suppose.  It  is  on  this  field,  that  most 
of  those  acts  are  committed,  which  constitute  a  man's 
career.  It  is  not  true  that  these  acts  possess  no 
moral  character.  Their  moral  character  is  derived, 
however,  from  something  outside  of  themselves.  It 
is  derived  from  the  motives  which  prompt  the  man 
to  commit  them,  or  from  his  individual  relations  to 
others  upon  whom  the  acts  in  some  way  may  termi- 
nate. It  requires  but  little  reflection  to  reach  the 
conclusion,  that  these  acts,  morally  indifferent  in 
themselves,  can  not  be  tried  as  a  class.  Each  of 
them  must  stand  by  itself.  The  same  act,  commit- 
ted by  two  persons,  may  in  the  one  case,  be  a  bounden 
duty,  and  in  the  other  case,  be  a  flagrant  wrong. 
Each  makes  a  distinct  case,  to  be  adjudicated  in  the 
court  of  conscience. 

Out  of  this  fact,  have  arisen  a  phrase  and  a  word. 

(62) 


THE    CHRISTIAN    CASUISTRY.  63 

The  phrase  is  "  Cases  of  Conscience ; "  and  the  word  is 
"  Casuistry."  Every  one,  who  has  a  case  before  his 
conscience,  is,  at  that  moment,  a  casuist.  And  a  case 
of  conscience  is  one,  in  which  a  man  or  a  woman  en- 
deavors to  determine,  whether  an  action,  neither  right 
nor  wrong  in  itself,  is  right  or  wrong,  because  of  the 
circumstances  in  which  it  has  been  committed,  or  in 
which  it  is  proposed  to  commit  it.  The  large  major- 
ity of  these  cases  of  conscience  may  easily  be  decided. 
Comparatively  few  require  for  their  decision  more 
than  a  moment's  thought.  It  is  not  to  be  denied, 
however,  that  there  are  cases  not  so  easily  deter- 
mined; cases  in  which  one  may  for  a  long  time  hon- 
estly halt  between  two  opinions,  all  the  while  praying 
for  guidance. 

This  is  true,  especially,  of  some  of  those  cases  which 
are  called  cases  of  Christian  conscience;  cases  whose 
peculiarity  is  due  to  the  fact  that  the  actor  is  a  dis- 
ciple of  Christ.  What  should  a  Christian  give  up? 
What  amusements,  and  occupations,  and  companies, 
should  he  forego?  What  rules  of  life  should  he  lay 
down  for  his  guidance  in  the  new  sphere  in  which 
he  moves?  Is  there  any  thing,  which  one  not  a 
Christian  may  do  without  sin,  which  a  Christian  can 
not  do  sinlessly?  If  this  or  that  amusement  is 
wrong  for  one  man,  is  it  not  equally  wrong  for 
another?  There  is  scarcely  a  Christian  before  me,  I 
suppose,  who  has  not  proposed  questions  like  these 
to  his  conscience,  and  who  has  not  been  perplexed 
about  their  answer.  Spiritual  teachers,  parents  and 
companions  are  called  upon  to  determine  for  others 
what  their  duty  is  in  numberless  cases,  in  each  of 
which,  while  the  act  is  indifferent  in  itself,  the  ques- 
tioner fears  that  it  has  gained  moral  quality  from  the 
circumstances  of  its  proposed  commission.     It  does 


64  SERMONS    ON    THE    CHRISTIAN    LIFE. 

no  good  to  respond:  "Let  your  conversation  be  as  be- 
cometh  the  Gospel  of  Christ;"  for  the  very  question 
is  what,  in  this  case,  is  the  conversation  becoming  to 
Christianity?  And  there  are  not  a  few,  whom  it 
seems  impossible  to  satisfy,  unless  another  can  be 
found  to  take  the  place  of  their  own  consciences;  and 
to  assume  the  responsibility  of  deciding  on  the  moral 
quality  of  a  particular  act  or  habit.  What  is  more 
lamentable,  there  are  not  a  few  who  are  prepared  to 
take  this  position  and  to  assume  this  responsibility. 
I  regret,  while  speaking  on  this  subject,  to  feel 
compelled  to  say,  that  a  crying  sin  of  some  religious 
instructors  is,  that  they  are  ready,  when  advice  is 
asked  upon  a  delicate  and  difficult  case  of  this  kind, 
to  go  further  than  the  declaration  of  the  principles 
of  the  Gospel,  and  to  decide  for  others  their  dut}T 
before  God.  From  such  presumptuous  care  and 
watch  of  souls,  all  who  are  Christian  teachers  need 
most  devoutly  to  pray  for  deliverance.  It  is  given 
to  no  Christian  teacher,  as  such,  to  take  the  place 
of  another's  conscience;  to  decide,  for  any  other  than 
himself,  as  to  the  moral  quality  of  acts  themselves 
not  immoral ;  and  he  should  be  careful  lest  he  incur 
the  displeasure  of  Him  who  said:  "Judge  not  that 
ye  be  not  judged." 

There  are,  however,  in  the  New  Testament  certain 
clearly  defined  principles,  which  should  be  honestly 
applied  in  each  case;  and  these  general  principles,  it 
is  the  function  of  the  Christian  teacher  to  announce 
and  explain. 

It  is  my  purpose,  at  this  time,  to  show  that  on 
this  subject  the  New  Testament  uniformly  employs 
the  language  of  general  principle,  as  contrasted  with 
the  language  of  specific  rule;  to  state  the  reasons 
for  this  peculiarity;  and  to  repeat  and  explain  the 


THE    CHRISTIAN    CASUISTRY.  65 

principles  themselves,  which  the  New  Testament  thus 
affirms  for  the  guidance  of  the  Christian. 

It  is  my  hope  that  any  of  you,  who  are  perplexed 
by  questions  such  as  I  have  described,  will,  by  this 
brief  discussion,  be  aided  rightly  to  answer  them. 
But  let  no  one  forget,  that  the  application  of  these 
principles  belongs  to  each  one  for  himself;  never  to 
one  Christian  for  another  who  has  reached  the  years 
of  maturity.  This  right  and  this  responsibility — for 
it  is  both  a  privilege  and  a  duty — can  not  be  dele- 
gated. It  can  not  be  placed  by  the  people  in  the 
hands  of  the  priests.  If  it  can,  it  can  be  surrendered 
by  the  priests  to  the  bishops;  and  if  this  can  be  done, 
it  may  just  as  righteously  be  given  up  to  a  supreme 
pontiff;  and  all  below  him,  who  refuse  to  yield  to 
his  declarations,  on  questions  of  morals,  an  implicit 
faith,  may  be  declared  under  the  ban  of  the  Church. 
This,  certainly,  is  not  Christianity  as  we  understand 
it.  The  application  of  these  principles  to  cases  of 
conscience  is  an  individual  right  which  can  not  be 
wrested.  It  is  an  individual  duty  which  can  not  be 
delegated.  If  it  is  a  privilege,  it  is  indefeasible.  If 
it  is  a  burden,  it  belongs  to  a  class  of  burdens  of 
which  every  man  shall  bear  his  own. 

I.  First,  then,  I  ask  your  attention  to  the  fact, 
that,  on  this  subject,  the  New  Testament  uniformly 
speaks  in  the  language  of  general  principle,  as  dis- 
tinguished from  the  language  of  specific  rule. 

Among  the  many  contrasts  between  the  form  of 
the  Old  Testament  and  that  of  the  New, — the  sub- 
stance of  the  two  being  the  same, — no  one  is  more 
obvious  and  striking  than  just  this;  that  the  former 
seeks  to  promote  morality  by  means  of  specific  com- 
mand and  prohibition,  and  the  latter  by  means  of 
principle.     The  Israelite  was  hedged  about  by  a  sys- 


66  SERMONS    ON    THE    CHRISTIAN   LIFE. 

tern  of  the  most  minute  rules.  The  Christian,  on 
the  contrary,  looks  in  vain  in  the  New  Testament  for 
such  a  system.  It  is  abrogated.  Of  the  ceremonies 
of  the  Hebrew  ritual  there  remains  only  the  memory ; 
while  the  Decalogue  itself  is  condensed  into  the  two 
all-including  precepts  of  love  to  God  and  man. 
Here,  Christ  as  the  great  Teacher,  placed  himself  in 
antagonism  to  the  scribes,  whose  labors  resulted  in 
the  multiplication  of  rules  of  conduct;  and  so  care- 
ful was  He,  that  He  would  decide  no  special  case 
brought  before  him.  Instead  of  pronouncing  judg- 
ment, He  declared  fundamental  principles;  the  appli- 
cation of  which  He  invariably  left  to  those  immedi- 
ately interested.  When,  for  example,  a  criminal  case 
was  brought  before  Him,  and  his  judgment  solicited; 
instead  of  deciding  in  favor  of  the  accusers  or  the  ac- 
cused; instead  of  bidding  the  former  either  to  stone 
or  to  release  the  latter;  He  merely  stated  a  principle, 
which  He  left  them  to  apply:  "He  that  is  without  sin 
among  you,  let  him  first  cast  a  stone:"  and,  that  the 
accusers  did  make  the  application,  is  evident  from  the 
words  which  follow:  "And  they  which  heard  it,  be- 
ing convicted  by  their  own  conscience,  went  out  one 
by  one,  beginning  at  the  eldest  even  unto  the  last ; 
and  Jesus  was  left  alone  and  the  woman  standing  in 
the  midst."* 


*  While  using  the  incident  of  the  woman  taken  in  adultery 
as  illustrating  our  Lord's  method  of  dealing  with  specific,  cases 
brought  before  Him,  I  do  not  forget  the  mass  of  external  evi- 
dence against  its  right  to  the  position  which  it  fills  in  the  fourth 
Gospel.  But  though  a  probable  interpolation,  there  is  no  good 
reason  to  doubt  the  actual  occurrence  of  the  incident.  It  would 
be  difficult  to  assign  a  motive  for  the  fabrication  of  the  story. 
Moreover,  the  conduct  attributed  to  the  scribes  and  Pharisees 
harmonizes  with  their  conduct  on  similar  occasions,  as  the  con- 
duct attributed  to  Jesus  harmonizes  with  his.    Dr.  Vaughan,  the 


THE  CHRISTIAN    CASUISTRY.  67 

So,  also,  when  a  case,  involving  the  right  to  a  par- 
ticular inheritance,  was  brought  before  Him  by  one 
who  supposed  that  he  had  been  wronged,  with  the  re- 
quest: "Master,  speak  to  my  brother  that  he  divide 
the  inheritance  with  me;"  the  Saviour  distinctly  de- 
nied that,  as  a  teacher  of  moral  and  religious  truth, 
He  was  called  to  decide  a  dispute  of  that  nature. 
"  Man,"  said  He,  "  who  made  me  a  judge  or  a  divider 
over  you?"  And  He  then  announced  a  general  prin- 
ciple, by  which,  as  He  taught,  men  should  control 
their  conduct.  "Take  heed  and  beware  of  covetous- 
ness ;  for  a  man's  life  consisteth  not  in  the  abundance 
of  the  things  which  he  possesseth."  It  is  as  if  He  had 
said  :  "  I  am  not  here  to  decide  cases  according  to  the 
law  of  conscience  or  the  law  of  the  empire.  I  am  not 
called  to  judge  and  to  execute  judgment.  I  have  been 
sent  by  the  Father  to  proclaim  the  fundamental  truths 
concerning  your  relations  to  Him  and  to  your  fellow 
men ;  and  to  impress  upon  the  conscience  of  the 
world  these  great  principles  by  which  the  life  of  man 
must  be  directed,  if  man  is  to  be  lifted  up  to  fellow- 
ship with  God;  and,  therefore,  I  refuse  to  decide  this 
case.  I  refuse  to  speak  to  your  brother  about  the 
inheritance.  But  I  will  announce,  as  becomes  me,  a 
principle,  which  men  should  remember  whenever,  and 
wherever,  and  however  they  have  to  do  with  prop- 
erty and  its  inheritance:  'Take  heed  and  beware  of 
covetousness;  for  a  man's  life  consisteth  not  in  the 
abundance  of  the  things  which  he  possesseth.' " 


Master  of  the  Temple,  makes  this  admirable  remark  on  the 
passage:  "We  hear  sometimes  of  a  verifying  faculty  to  which,  as 
to  a  sort  of  spiritual  taste,  revelation  itself  makes  its  appeal  for 
a  hearing  in  man's  conscience.  I  question  whether  any  tenor 
twelve  verses  of  Scripture  could  appeal  with  more  confidence  to 
a  tribunal  thus  constituted." 


68  SERMONS    ON    THE    CIIRISTIAN   LIFE. 

In  exactly  the  way  in  which  He  dealt  with  cases 
of  crime,  and  with  cases  involving  the  rights  of  indi- 
viduals, He  dealt  also  with  the  political  questions 
which  then  agitated  the  Jewish  people.  As  a  relig- 
ious teacher,  He  would  take  no  side.  In  the  exercise 
of  his  office,  He  would  counsel  neither  submission  to 
the  Roman  government  nor  rebellion  against  it. 
When  a  test  question  was  directly  put  to  Him; — a 
question  which  He  could  not  answer  categorically 
without  taking  a  side — He  refused  to  answer  it;  con- 
tenting Himself,  as  before,  with  the  declaration  of  a 
principle;  and  leaving  its  application  to  the  particular 
case,  to  those  who  approached  Him  with  the  ques- 
tion. He  would  not  say,  whether  or  not,  it  was  law- 
ful to  give  tribute  to  Caesar.  His  only  reply  was : 
"  Render  unto  Csesar  the  things  which  are  Csesar's,  and 
unto  God  the  things  which  are  God's." 

The  great  Apostle  to  the  Gentiles,  who  has  treated 
this  whole  subject  with  some  detail,  followed  closely 
in  the  footsteps  of  his  Master.  Declaring  the  Gos- 
pel, as  he  did  declare  it,  to  be  the  legitimate  out- 
growth of  the  Jewish  religion,  it  was  only  natural, 
that,  among  those  converted  to  Christianity  through 
his  agency,  there  should  arise  questions  as  to  the 
presence  or  absence  of  obligation  resting  upon  them 
individually,  to  observe  certain  rites  commanded  in 
the  Jewish  law  :  questions  concerning  fasts,  and  feasts, 
and  meats,  and  daj's  of  ceremony  and  worship.  I 
can  not  discover,  in  any  of  the  Epistles  of  Paul, 
or  in  any  record  of  his  conduct,  that  he  ever  under- 
took to  decide  a  particular  case;  that  he  once  placed 
himself  in  the  position  of  another  man's  conscience. 
He  counseled  charity;  he  taught  liberty;  he  ex- 
horted to  self-denial;  he  proclaimed  himself  ready  to 
eat  no  meat  while  the  world  stood,  should  the  eating 


THE    CHRISTIAN    CASUISTRY.  69 

of  it  offend  the  conscience  of  a  brother;  and  this, 
though  he  was  persuaded  of  the  Lord  Jesus,  that  there 
was  nothing  of  itself  unclean.  But  that  he  ever  de- 
cided another's  case  of  conscience,  I  can  not  find  the 
least  evidence.  He  was  always  careful  to  speak  in 
the  language  of  general  and  abiding  principle,  in- 
stead of  such  specific  and  temporary  command,  as 
might  be  suited  to  a  particular  case. 

II.  For  the  adoption  of  this  course,  the  Great 
Teacher  and  the  Great  Apostle  had  the  most  cogent 
reasons.  This  Gospel,  which  they  preached,  was  not 
designed,  as  was  the  Hebrew  religion,  for  one  people 
and  a  definite  period.  It  was  a  finality.  It  was 
meant  to  be  permanent,  uniform,  and  universal.  It 
was  intended  to  move  down  the  centuries,  the  same 
yesterday,  to-day,  and  forever;  and  across  the  coun- 
tries and  throughout  the  peoples,  the  same  Gospel; 
until  it  had  subjected  all  men  and  all  nations  to  its 
sway.  Had  the  inspired  Word  been  encumbered 
with  rules  in  regard  to  customs  and  amusements 
prevalent  in  one  age;  it  would  not  have  been  suited 
to  an  age,  after  the  customs  had  been  abrogated,  and 
the  amusements  had  given  place  to  others.  Had  it 
adapted  itself,  in  this  manner,  to  the  people  and  the 
country  of  Palestine  ;  it  would,  so  far  forth,  have  been 
useless  to  other  peoples  and  other  zones.  Intended, 
like  the  atmosphere,  to  enfold  the  world  in  its  em- 
brace, and  to  infuse  in  all  time  a  life  throughout 
the  human  system;  it  was  necessary  that,  like  the 
atmosphere,  it  should  be  the  same  in  every  place, 
alike  adapted  to  the  tropics  and  the  poles.  Meant 
in  its  present  form  to  be  permanent  as  humanity; 
it  was  requisite,  that  its  appeal  be  made  in  the 
language  of  permanent  principles,  to  the  abiding  con- 
science of  humanity;  and  not  the  language  of  special 


70  SERMONS    ON    THE    CHRISTIAN    LIFE. 

and  temporary  rules  for  special  and  temporary  cus- 
toms. 

Nor  was  this  all.  Even  more  impressive,  because 
more  profound,  is  another  reason  that  lay  in  the 
mind  of  Christ,  for  refraining  both  from  the  prescrip- 
tion of  rules,  and  from  the  decision  of  special  cases 
of  conscience.  Had  He  intended  to  shape  men's 
conduct  to  a  model;  had  his  object  been  to  place 
man  upon  some  bed  of  Procrustes,  and  by  violent 
measures  to  adjust  him  outwardly  to  a  preordain- 
ed standard ;  doubtless  the  ISTew  Testament  would 
have  abounded  in  rules  and  commands,  the  most 
comprehensive  and  minute.  But  because  He  sought, 
rather  to  develop  a  character  than  to  shape  conduct ; 
because  he  sought  first  to  change  the  heart  rather 
than  the  acts  that  proceed  from  it;  his  words  em- 
body principle  instead  of  precept,  and  unfold  great 
and  permanent  truths  instead  of  specific  and  tempo- 
rary rules.  Beginning  at  the  center  of  life,  his 
words  move  thence  to  the  activities  of  life.  So  He 
created  man  anew,  instead  of  forcing  new  conduct 
upon  an  unchanged  nature.  So  He  regenerated  the 
soul,  instead  of  merely  reforming  the  life.  Rules 
might  effect  the  latter.  Vital  and  eternal  princi- 
ples alone  could  secure  the  former. 

If  any  one,  at  this  point,  should  be  disposed  to  ob- 
ject to  this  description  of  the  Gospel,  as  making  it 
appear  powerless  to  restrain  vice,  and  to  promote 
virtue ;  let  him  remember,  that  every  principle,  posess- 
ing  vitality,  when  rooted  in  the  soul  of  an  intelli- 
gent being,  will  of  necessity  create  its  own  rules  of 
action.  Let  the  principle  of  deep  and  abiding  affec- 
tion for  his  wife — for  affection  is  a  principle  as  well 
as  a  passion — govern  an  intelligent  man.  That  love, 
outworking  itself  in    all    his   conduct  toward    her, 


THE    CHRISTIAN    CASUISTRY.  71 

will  create  its  own  rules;  and,  by  its  own  strength, 
will  better  control  his  life  in  his  relations  to  her, 
than  the  best  system  of  precepts  for  husbands  that 
could  be  framed.  On  the  other  hand,  let  this  affec- 
tion be  wanting;  and  no  series  of  rules  for  the  out- 
ward conduct,  however  detailed,  however  exacting, 
and  however  obeyed,  will  be  able  to  take  the  place  of 
the  absent  principle.  So,  let  these  principles  of  the 
Gospel  of  Christ  be  grounded  in  the  heart  of  the 
disciple;  and  let  him  thoroughly  submit  his  life  to 
their  guidance;  and  no  case  of  conscience,  too  per- 
plexing for  decision,  can  possibly  come  before  him. 

III.  And  now,  having  prepared  the  way,  by  bring- 
ing before  you  both  the  fact  that  the  New  Testament 
employs  the  language  of  principle,  and  the  reasons 
for  it,  I  ask  your  attention  to  a  statement  of  the 
principles  themselves.  I  am  sure,  that  it  would  be 
impossible  to  speak  to  Christians  on  a  more  im- 
portant subject,  than  the  subject,  which  brings  before 
them  the  principles,  by  which  they  are  to  determine 
their  duty,  in  the  case  of  all  actions,  of  which  conscience 
affirms  neither  inherent  right  nor  inherent  wrong. 

The  first  of  these  principles, — that  which  underlies 
all  the  others, — is  liberty.  I  need  not  take  time  to 
prove  that  the  New  Testament,  in  the  plainest  terms, 
affirms  the  liberty  of  the  individual  disciple;  his 
right  to  judge  all  his  own  proposed  acts,  not  in 
themselves  right  or  wrong.  Let  it  be  observed,  that 
I.  do  not  affirm  that  each  individual  Christian  is  at 
liberty  to  do  any  thing  not  inherently  wrong;  but 
that  he  alone  is  at  liberty,  in  each  case  as  it  arises,  to 
judge  whether  he  may.  This  right  of  private  judg- 
ment in  cases  of  conscience,  can  not  be  wrested  from 
him.  No  man,  by  virtue  of  his  Christianity,  may 
assume  to  stand  between  a  soul  and  its   indifferent 


72  SERMONS    ON    THE    CHRISTIAN   LIFE. 

acts,  and  pronounce  judgment.  Christ  plainly  teaches 
this  in  the  words  which  I  have  already  quoted : 
"  Judge  not  that  ye  be  not  judged."  And  in  the 
method  adopted  by  the  Apostle  to  unfold  this 
important  truth,  there  seems  to  me  to  be  some 
indignation  expressed  at  those  who  might  dare  to 
doubt  it.  "  One  believeth  that  he  may  eat  all  things  : 
another,  who  is  weak,  eateth  herbs.  Let  not  him 
that  eateth,  despise  him  that  eateth  not;  and  let  not 
him  which  eateth  not,  judge  him  that  eateth.  Who 
art  thou,  that  judgest  another  man's  servant?  To 
his  own  master  he  standeth  or  falleth.  Let  every 
man  be  fully  persuaded  in  his  own  mind." 

When  a  question,  such  as  I  have  described,  comes 
before  a  Christian  man;  when  he  is  compelled  by 
circumstances  to  decide,  whether  it  will  be  wrong 
for  him  to  indulge  in  an  amusement  or  to  begin 
or  continue  a  habit,  it  is  that  Christian's  inalien- 
able right  to  decide  for  himself.  This  is  a  large 
and  important  part  of  the  liberty,  with  which  Christ 
has  made  us  free.  I  may  not  specifically  inform  you 
of  your  duty  in  respect  to  these  habits  or  amuse- 
ments. You  may  not  specifically  inform  me  of 
mine.  Each  of  us  must  stand  or  fall;  never  to  his 
brother;  but  always  to  the  individual  conscience, 
and  to  our  common  Lord.  This  is  a  principle  which 
the  Church  of  Christ  must  respect.  The  recognition 
of  this  liberty  is  one  of  the  highest  exercises  of  that 
charity,  which  the  Gospel  so  often  inculcates  and 
commends.  Let  us  not  forget,  at  the  same  time, 
that  the  liberty,  which  the  New  Testament  empha- 
sizes, is  entirely  different  from  individual  liberty 
of  action.  It  is  only  a  freedom  of  judgment.  You 
may  not  infer,  that,  because  no  one  save  yourself 
may  sit  in  judgment  on  your  cases  of  conscience,  you 


THE    CHRISTIAN   CASUISTRY.  73 

have  a  Christian  right  to  do  every  thing  not  in  it- 
self wrong.  By  no  means.  This,  I  fear,  is  a  mis- 
take often  made.  You  have  only  a  freedom  to  try 
and  determine  your  own  cases.  For  the  right  ex- 
ercise of  this  judgment,  free  and  indefeasible  as  it 
is,  you  are  responsible  to  Christ. 

Let  us  understand,  then,  that  this  liberty  of  judg- 
ment can  not  be  invaded  by  the  Church  or  by  an- 
other Christian.  But  while  it  may  not  be  invaded, 
the  judgment  itself  must  be  under  the  guidance  of 
the  remaining  principles  of  the  Christian  casuistry. 
Of  these,  I  name,  as  the  second  principle  clearly 
announced  in  the  New  Testament,  the  principle  of 
certainty.  A  Christian  has  no  right  to  perform  any 
act,  or  to  indulge  in  any  practice,  of  whose  moral 
character  he  is  in  doubt.  This  is  clearly  taught  by 
the  Apostle  Paul  in  the  words:  "Let  every  man  be 
fully  persuaded  in  his  own  mind;"  and  more  clearly, 
if  that  be  possible,  in  the  words  which  conclude  his 
discussion,  in  the  same  chapter,  in  respect  to  the  right 
to  eat  certain  articles  of  food:  "He  that  doubteth  is 
condemned  if  he  eat,  because  he  eateth  not  of  faith ; 
for  whatsoever  is  not  of  faith  is  of  sin." 

It  would  be  strange,  if  most  of  us  were  not  often 
placed  in  positions,  which  call  for  the  brave  and  hon- 
est application  of  this  principle.  There  are  many 
acts  and  habits  of  whose  moral  character,  or  of  the 
character  of  whose  influence,  as  committed  or  in- 
dulged by  us,  we  are  unable  thoroughly  to  convince 
ourselves.  We  know  that  they  are  not  specifically 
prohibited,  by  either  the  written  or  the  unwritten 
law  of  God.  And  yet  we  are  unable  to  rid  our- 
selves of  the  fear,  that,  in  becoming  responsible  for 
them,  we  shall  exert  an  influence  against  the  inter- 
ests of  that  spiritual  kingdom,  which  our  vocation 


74  SERMONS    ON    T1IE    CHRISTIAN    LIFE. 

pledges  us  to  aid.  The  truth  may  be,  that  our  fears 
are  baseless.  It  may  even  be,  that,  while  we  enter- 
tain the  fears,  we  are  convinced,  that  but  for  un- 
worthy but  wide-spread  and  deep-seated  prejudices, 
there  would  be  no  ground  for  the  apprehensions  we 
feel  compelled  to  entertain.  But  the  doubts  or  the 
fears  are  there;  and,  try  how  we  will,  we  can  not 
dissipate  them.  Is  there  a  principle,  then,  clearly 
stated  in  the  New  Testament,  by  which  a  Christian 
thus  perplexed  is  called  to  regulate  his  conduct? 
It  is  clear  to  my  mind  that  there  is;  and  that  I 
have  already  stated  it  in  this  declaration  of  Paul: 
"He  that  doubteth  is  condemned  if  he  eat."  It  is 
as  if  he  had  said:  "While  you  are  the  sole  judges 
of  the  influence  and  expediency  of  this  proposed 
act  so  far  as  yourselves  are  concerned,  you  may  not 
begin  any  course  of  conduct  which  requires  reflec- 
tion and  judgment,  until  you  have  faithfully  exer- 
cised the  right  of  judgment,  which,  as  Christians, 
you  possess;  until  you  are  fully  persuaded  in  your 
own  minds.  You  may  not  eat  the  meats,  therefore, 
while  you  suffer  yourselves  to  remain  in  doubt.  He 
that  doubteth  is  condemned  if  he  eat,  because  he 
eateth  not  of  faith." 

You  see,  at  once,  the  Christian  basis  of  the  prin- 
ciple. A  Christian  is  represented  in  the  New  Tes- 
tament as  one  on  whom  God  has  bestowed  a  new 
life;  and,  because  a  new  life,  a  new  power  of  spir- 
itual discernment.  The  possession  of  this  power  of 
discernment  is  the  ground  of  his  right  to  judge; 
for  "he  that  is  spiritual,  judge  th  all  things;  and  is 
judged  of  no  man."  But  the  talent  which  God  has 
given  him,  he  has  no  right  to  hide  in  a  napkin. 
He  has  no  right  to  act  as  though  he  did  not  pos- 
sess it.     And  so  long  as  he  is  in  doubt;  so  long  as 


THE    CHRISTIAN    CASUISTRY.  75 

fears  exist ;  so  long  as  he  does  not,  by  means  of  this 
new  power  of  discernment,  and  in  the  exercise  of 
this  spiritual  privilege  of  judgment,  reach  a  conclu- 
sion which  permits  him  to  eat  the  meat  or  indulge 
in  the  amusement;  he  must  deny  himself.  This  is 
no  rule  to  restrain.  It  is  not  a  covert  attack  on 
Christian  liberty.  On  the  contrary,  it  implies  the 
liberty  to  judge,  and  simply  compels  its  exercise. 

The  two  principles,  of  which  I  have  spoken,  emerge 
out  of  man's  individual  relations  to  the  Gospel.  Lib- 
erty of  judgment  and  certainty  of  conviction  would 
be  applicable  to  cases  of  conscience,  though  the  man 
applying  them  were  the  only  Christian  on  the  earth. 
To  these,  however,  we  must  add  a  third;  growing 
out  of  his  relations  to  his  fellow-men.  This  is  the 
principle  of  self-denial;  or,  more  specifically,  charity 
for  the  consciences  of  others. 

Compromise  of  individual  privileges  is  necessary 
to  the  existence  of  society.  Social  relations  involve 
abridgments  and  restrictions.  Separate  a  man  from 
his  fellows.  Place  him  in  a  district  apart  from  all 
other  members  of  the  human  family.  You  enlarge 
his  liberty  of  action  ;  and  he  may  do  many  things, 
from  which,  on  his  re-entrance  into  the  busy  walks 
of  men,  he  must  refrain.  On  the  uninhabited  prai- 
rie, or  in  the  wilderness,  I  may  build  fires  every- 
where and  discharge  fire-arms  in  every  direction 
with  impunity.  The  moment,  however,  that  I  re- 
enter the  thoroughfares  of  the  city,  I  stand  in 
relations  to  others,  which  properly  abridge  my  lib- 
erty of  action.  My  new  position  demands  of  me 
some  regard  for  the  welfare  of  those  with  whom  I 
come  in  contact.  If  Christianity  had  to  do,  solely, 
with  the  relations  of  man  to  God  and  his  own  con- 
science;  doubtless,  the  moment  one  satisfied  God's 


76  SERMONS    ON    THE    CHRISTIAN    LIFE. 

written  law  and  the  demands  of  his  own  conscience, 
he  might,  as  a  Christian,  do  or  leave  undone  every 
thing  else.  In  that  case  he  would  not,  as  a  Chris- 
tian, at  least,  be  called  to  debate  many  things  in 
themselves  indifferent.  But  this  is  not  the  New 
Testament  account  of  the  religion  or  of  the  mission 
of  the  disciple  of  Christ.  "Ye  are  the  salt  of  the 
earth."  "Ye  are  the  light  of  the  world."  "Ye  are 
a  city  set  on  a  hill  which  can  not  be  hid."  "Ye 
are  epistles  read  and  known  of  all  men."  In  terms 
like  these,  does  the  word  of  God  describe  the  mis- 
sion of  Christians  to  the  world.  Moreover,  Chris- 
tians are  united  to  each  other  so  closely,  that  the 
Apostle  says  of  them,  that  they  are  members  one 
of  another. 

Other  lives  than  our  own,  both  without  the  Church 
and  within  it,  are  molded  by  our  conduct.  Other 
destinies  are  suspended  on  our  careers.  "We  can 
not  therefore,  as  Christians,  release  ourselves  from 
the  duty  of  regarding  the  influence  of  our  conduct 
on  societ}^.  Especially,  must  we  be  careful  of  those, 
to  whom  we  are  so  closely  bound,  as  our  brethren 
of  the  household  of  faith.  This  truth,  the  Apostle 
states  with  clearness  and  emphasis  both  in  the  Epis- 
tle to  the  Romans  and  in  that  to  the  Corinthians. 
He  takes  the  highest  ground  as  to  the  duty,  espe- 
cially, which  Christians  owe  to  the  consciences  of 
their  brethren.  Listen  to  his  words:  "I  know,  and 
am  persuaded  by  the  Lord  Jesus,  that  there  is  noth- 
ing unclean  of  itself.  But  if  thy  brother  be  grieved 
with  th}7  meat,  now  walkest  thou  not  charitably. 
Destroy  not  him  with  thy  meat,  for  whom  Christ 
died.  Let  us,  therefore,  follow  after  the  things  which 
make  for  peace,  and  things  wherewith  one  may  ed- 
ify another.     For   meat,   destroy   not   the   work   of 


THE   CHRISTIAN   CASUISTRY.  77 

God.  All  things  indeed  are  pure;  but  it  is  evil  for 
that  man  who  eateth  with  offense.  It  is  good  neither 
to  eat  flesh,  nor  to  drink  wine,  nor  any  thing  whereby 
thy  brother  stumbleth,  or  is  offended,  or  made  weak." 
And  to  the  Corinthians  he  says  of  himself:  "Where- 
fore, if  meat  make  my  brother  to  offend,  I  will  eat 
no  flesh  while  the  world  standeth,  lest  I  make  my 
brother  to  offend." 

This,  then,  is  the  principle  of  Christian  conduct 
growing  out  of  our  relations  to  others,  as  unfolded 
by  Paul.  It  is  the  principle  of  charity  or  self-denial. 
I  purposely  refrain  from  illustrating  it,  by  naming 
any  of  the  customs  and  amusements  which  to-day 
divide  the  members  of  Christian  communities,  lest  I 
should  seem  to  attempt  to  take  the  place  of  the  con- 
sciences of  others.  The  principle  is  a  clear  one.  We 
are  bound,  as  banded  together  in  Christ,  to  have  re- 
gard for  each  other's  scruples.  Or,  to  put  it  in  a  form 
which  will  enable  us  easily  to  employ  it,  we  must  be 
careful  not  to  offend  the  Christian  sentiment  of  the 
community.  We  are  under  obligation  not  to  do  that 
which  will  prove  a  stumbling-block  to  other  Chris- 
tians. Because  limited  in  time,  I  content  myself  with 
its  bare  statement.  I  can  not,  however,  pass  on  to 
the  statement  of  the  next  principle,  without  first  re- 
marking, that  it  is  not  always  easy  to  say,  just  how 
far  we  must  refrain  on  account  of  other  Christians. 
There  is  a  difficulty  here,  which  often  arises  in  prac- 
tice. I  can  conceive  of  one  pushing  the  principle 
too  far.  I  can  conceive  of  one,  so  oversensitive  to 
the  feelings  of  every  fellow  Christian,  that  he  will 
become  the  veriest  slave";  who,  by  exchanging  the 
bondage  of  rule  for  the  bondage  of  a  morbid  and 
hurtful  charity,  may  injure  the  very  men,  whose  con- 
sciences he  fears  to  wound.     It  is  not  true,  that  we 


78  SERMONS    ON    THE    CHRISTIAN    LIFE. 

are  called  upon  always  to  conform  our  conduct,  in 
indifferent  matters,  to  the  judgment  of  the  Chris- 
tians who  are  about  us.  Self-denial,  in  charity  to  our 
brethren,  is  not  without  limits.  It  may  often  become 
our  duty,  as  more  thau  once  it  became  Paul's,  to  oppose, 
not  only  with  steadfastness,  but  with  vigor,  the  relig- 
ious prejudices  of  weaker  disciples.  For  the  Kingdom 
of  God  is  a  more  commanding  object,  than  even  the 
sentiment  of  a  Christian  community  on  courses  of  con- 
duct in  themselves  indifferent.  And  when  the  two  are 
in  conflict,  whatever  else  must  give  way,  the  interests 
of  the  Kingdom  of  righteousness  have  the  highest 
right  to  determine  our  action. 

And,  thus,  we  are  brought  to  the  fourth  of  these 
great  principles  of  the  Christian  casuistry — the  prin- 
ciple of  loyalty; — of  loyalty  to  the  Kingdom  of  God. 
Why  are  Christians  suffered  to  remain  here,  sub- 
jected to  the  temptations  and  the  sufferings  of  a  sin- 
ful society?  Why,  if  they  have  been  forgiven  and 
made  heirs  of  God,  are  they  not  given  the  inherit- 
ance at  once?  The  answer  to  this  question  can  not 
be  included  in  a  single  remark.  Doubtless,  they 
are  here,  partly  for  their  own  sakes.  A  higher  type 
of  perfection  will  be  theirs,  because  of  the  struggles 
against  sin  which  they  are  compelled  to  undergo 
while  living  in  the  world.  Doubtless  they  are 
here,  partly  for  the  greater  glory  of  the  Redeemer. 
For  his  victory  over  the  powers  of  evil,  in  the  rescue 
of  a  soul  from  the  dominion  of  sin,  is  greater,  when 
that  rescue  is  accomplished  in  this  world  ;  which  is 
ruled,  as  we  are  taught,  by  these  very  powers.  But, 
more  than  all,  I  take  it,  we  are  here  to  carry  forward 
the  work  of  Christ,  in  behalf  of  his  own  Kingdom.  This 
would  seem  to  be  implied  in  the  words  of  the  Lord 
himself;  uttered  in  connection  with  the  prayer  that  his 


THE    CHRISTIAN    CASUISTRY.  79 

people  should  not  be  taken  out  of  the  world,  but  should 
be  preserved  from  its  evil.  "As  thou,  Father,  hast 
sent  me  into  the  world,  even  so  have  I  sent  them  into 
the  world."  We  are  here  to  advance  the  interests 
of  the  eternal  Kingdom  of  God.  No  duty  can  he 
more  imperative  than  loyalty  to  that  Kingdom. 
Loyalty  to  the  Kingdom,  therefore,  is  a  principle, — 
than  which  none  can  be  more  commanding, — which 
we  should  not  fail  to  apply  to  indifferent  acts. 
We  are  bound  to  judge  the  tendency  of  every  course 
of  conduct.  We  are  bound,  as  Christians,  to  subject 
it  honestly  to  scrutiny,  for  the  purpose  of  ascertain- 
ing whether  it  will  advance  or  retard  the  Kingdom's 
progress  to  its  predicted  triumph.  Nor  must  this 
principle  ever  be  suffered  to  lie  below  consciousness. 
So  Paul  exhorts  Christians :  "  Whether  ye  eat  or 
drink,  or  whatsoever  ye  do,  do  all  to  the  glory  of 
God."  It  is,  indeed,  true,  that  we  may  not  do  evil 
that  good  may  come.  But  every  thing,  except  the 
commands  of  the  law  of  God,  must  be  made  subserv- 
ient to  the  Kingdom  of  Christ.  A  morally  indiffer- 
ent act  at  once  loses  its  quality  of  indifference  to  the 
man,  who,  when  tempted  to  commit  it,  sees  that  its 
probable  influence  will  be  inimical  to  the  rule  of 
God  in  the  earth.  This  is  so  clear  and  indisputable 
that  nothing  need  be  added  to  its  simple  statement. 
One  more  principle  of  the  Christian  casuistry  re- 
mains to  be  mentioned:  the  principle  of  imitation 
of  Christ.  Here,  we  reach  the  crowning  and  govern- 
ing principle  of  Christian  living.  Here,  is  to  be  found 
the  ultimate  test,  in  every  case  of  conscience.  When 
no  other  principle  can,  from  the  nature  of  the  case, 
be  applied  to  indifferent  acts,  this  is  applicable,  be- 
cause spiritual.  "  If  any  man  have  not  the  Spirit  of 
Christ,  he  is  none  of  his. " 


80  SERMONS    ON    THE    CHRISTIAN    LIFE. 

These,  then,  are  the  great  and  general  principles  of 
the  Gospel,  that  we  are  to  apply  to  every  question, 
in  that  large  field  of  actions,  which,  indifferent  in 
themselves,  may  become  right  or  wrong,  duties  or 
sins,  from  the  circumstances  of  their  commission. 
Here  are  no  rules  to  restrain,  but  principles  to  con- 
strain; no  commands  to  be  obeyed,  but  truths  to 
inspire;  no  minute  directions  to  repress  the  life,  but 
broad  generalizations  to  expand  the  soul.  So,  if  con- 
duct is  not  directly  shaped;  character  is  directly  de- 
veloped. So,  if  Christianity  does  not  instantly  repress 
outward  vice;  it  touches  the  heart,  and  implants  the 
seeds  of  a  new  spiritual  life,  itself  divine  and  eter- 
nal, by  whose  power  the  soul  grows  to  the  stature 
of  the  perfect  man  in  Christ  Jesus.  Liberty  of 
judgment.  Certainty  before  action.  Charity  for 
others'  consciences.  Loyalty  to  the  Kingdom  of 
God.  Imitation  of  Christ.  These  are,  at  once,  the 
great  principles,  which  lie  at  the  basis  of  the  Chris- 
tian casuistry;  and  the  great  traits,  which  make  up 
the  Christian  character.  I  would,  that  they  were 
graven,  as  with  a  pen  of  iron,  on  every  Christian 
heart.  I  would,  too,  that  God  might  give  us  all 
grace,  fairly  and  bravely  and  always,  to  apply  them 
to  our  lives. 

There  is  a  tremendous  responsibility,  Christian 
brethren,  in  being  lifted,  out  of  a  life  of  bondage  to 
rule,  into  the  liberty  a  life  guided  by  principle.  It 
is  the  great  remove  from  childhood  to  manhood. 
There  comes  a  time  to  every  boy,  when  the  rules 
and  formulas,  the  tasks  and  hours  of  home,  are  no 
longer  imposed;  when  the  youth  breathes  and  walks, 
unrestrained  by  behests  and  prohibitions.  Who,  that 
has  passed  that  period,  does  not  know  the  exultant 
joy  of  the  hour  of  the  newly  found  freedom?    What 


THE    CHRISTIAN   CASUISTRY.  81 

young  man  does  not  rejoice  in  the  strength  of  his 
youth,  and  the  ecstasy  of  liberty,  when  first  he  sees 
the  world,  with  all  its  paths  before  him,  free  to 
choose  between  them  all?  But,  the  danger  of  the 
hour!  The  responsibility  of  the  freedom!  What, 
if  no  lofty  principle  guide  his  footsteps  to  the  paths 
of  right?  What,  if  he  drown  the  voice  within, 
which  bids  him  wisely  choose?  There  are  no  rules, 
no  hedges,  no  barriers.  There  is  no  strong  arm 
of  parent,  to  hold  him  back  from  destruction.  He 
is  no  longer  a  child.  God  help  him — for  he  sorely 
needs  help — and  hold  his  soul  attentive  to  the  voice 
within ! 

So  do  we  stand  to-day.  When,  at  the  death  of  the 
old  Dispensation,  its  rules  and  ceremonies  were  abro- 
gated, and  the  new  Dispensation  of  principle  was  ush- 
ered in,  the  Church  passed  from  childhood  to  manhood. 
The  disciple  of  Christ  is  held  to  no  code  of  laws,  daily 
and  hourly  brought  before  him,  in  the  ritual  of  his 
religion.  That  age  of  the  Church  has  gone  forever. 
The  Christian  of  to-day  stands  in  the  midst  of  a 
world  of  ever  increasing  activity,  with  perfect  lib- 
erty of  judgment,  and  with  no  rule  of  life  to  guide 
him,  save  these  principles  of  the  Gospel  of  Christ. 
How  solemn  the  position !  And  temptations  are  so 
many;  and  relations  are  so  intricate;  and  pleasure 
so  allures;  and  the  world  is  so  engrossing;  and  evil 
is  so  active;  and  destiny  is  so  near.  How  solemn 
are  the  issues  of  his  conduct!  No  wonder  that  the 
hosts  of  heaven  are  intensely  interested  in  the  life 
of  man. 

Brethren,  let  us,  too,  seek  to  realize  what  a  voca- 
tion ours  is;  what  a  problem  Christian  living  is.  To 
be  perfectly  free;  and  yet  to  walk  worthily.  O,  let 
us  hold  fast  by  great  principles  of  action!     What 


82  SERMONS    ON   THE    CHRISTIAN    LIFE. 

need  we  have  of  them !  What  need  of  the  strong 
agony  of  prayer;  of  every  means  of  grace — the  Word 
of  God,  the  Church,  the  Sacraments !  How  cau- 
tiously do  we  need  to  walk;  how  valiantly  to  wrestle; 
how  prayerfully  to  live !  For  sin  is  within  us,  as 
well  as  holiness.  And  temptations  are  around  us,  as 
well  as  the  angels  of  God.  And  one  is  seeking  to 
destroy  us,  as  well  as  One  to  lift  us  to  fellowship 
with  Himself.  And  other  destinies  than  our  own 
are  determined  by  our  lives.  O,  let  us  watch,  and 
study,  and  tight,  and  pray  continuously;  that  we 
may  walk  worthy  of  the  vocation  wherewith  we  are 
called. 

I  may  not  close  without  one  word  to  you,  who,  be- 
cause you  do  not  call  yourselves  Christians,  may  be 
congratulating  yourselves,  that  you  are  not  obliged 
to  apply  the  principles  of  the  Christian  casuistry  to 
the  conduct  of  your  lives.  Do  not  suppose,  that,  for 
this  reason,  you  enjoy  a  larger  freedom.  If  you  are 
not  under  Christ,  you  are  under  law.  And  law  will 
hold  you  guilty  of  the  violation  of  all,  though  you 
violate  but  the  least  of  its  commands.  Law  will 
heed  no  excuse,  though  you  plead  the  strongest  of 
temptations.  Law  will  inflict  its  whole  penalty, 
though  the  infliction  result  in  eternal  death. 


VI. 

THE  GAII  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  IK 
CHRIST'S  DEPARTURE. 

Nevertheless,  I  tell  you  the  truth;  it  is  expedient  for  you  that 
I  go  away. — John  xvi,  7. 

It  will  be  conceded  by  all,  that  suffering  reveals, 
by  calling  into  activity,  man's  latent  selfishness;  that 
the  influence  of  sharp  or  long  continued  pain  is  to 
fix  the  suiferer's  attention  on  himself;  to  induce  him 
to  emphasize  his  own  claims  and  needs,  and  to  dis- 
parage the  claims  and  needs  of  others.  "When  one 
finds  himself  in  imminent  peril  of  disaster,  his  first, 
and,  usually,  his  prevailing  impulse  is,  at  whatever 
cost  to  others,  to  make  certain  his  own  escape. 
Before  this  impulse,  all  moral  barriers  easily  give 
way.  In  the  thronging  crowd,  hurrying  from  some 
dreaded  and  impending  catastrophe,  the  cry  of  the 
hearts,  if  not  of  the  lips,  is :  "  Save  himself  who  can : " 
and  the  strong  relentlessly  crush  the  weak,  in  the 
awful  struggle  for  life.  Had  Jesus  been  a  sinner, 
therefore,  his  sinfulness  could  scarcely  have  been 
concealed  in  the  hours  of  his  severest  suffering. 
The  crucial  test  of  moral  perfection  is  to  be  found 
at  the  point,  where  the  temptation  to  selfishness  is 

(83) 


84  SERMONS    ON    THE    CHRISTIAN    LIFE. 

strongest.  And  it  is  at  this  point,  precisely,  that  the 
character  of  the  Redeemer  stands  forth  as  unique :  as 
the  Revelation,  indeed,  of  the  absolute  unselfishness. 

"Having  loved  his  own,  which  were  in  the  world, 
He  loved  them  unto  the  end."  As  He  approached 
his  predicted  passion,  his  anxiety  was  aroused,  not 
by  the  agony  which  He  was  about  to  endure,  but 
by  the  disappointments  of  those  around  Him.  He 
did  nothing  to  mitigate  his  own  sorrow;  He  did 
every  thing  to  relieve  theirs.  He  refused  the  im- 
petuous defense  of  an  Apostle;  but  He  healed  the 
wound  of  an  enemy.  He  declined  the  draught 
which  would  have  dulled  his  own  consciousness  of 
suffering ;  but  He  did  not  forget  to  commend  his 
mother  to  the  loving  care  of  a  friend.  He  would 
not  exert  his  miraculous  power  to  ward  off  the  blows 
that  his  foes  were  inflicting;  but  He  prayed :  "  Father, 
forgive  them,  for  they  know  not  what  they  do."  We 
shall  search  history  in  vain,  for  another  example  of 
absolute  unselfishness,  under  the  temptation  of  pro- 
longed and  unspeakable  suffering.  It  were  possible 
to  Him,  alone,  who,  though  He  knew  no  sin,  was 
made  sin  for  us,  that  we  might  be  made  the  right- 
eousness of  God  in  Him. 

Similar  evidence  of  sinlessness — and  evidence  quite 
as  strong — appears  in  the  prayer,  which  He  addressed 
to  God,  and  in  the  words,  which  He  addressed  to 
his  disciples,  at  the  beginning  of  his  passion.  In 
both  the  prayer  and  the  address,  He  dwells,  not  on 
the  weight  of  his  own  burdens,  but  on  the  sorrow 
of  those  whom  He  is  about  to  leave,  and  on  the  dan- 
gers to  which  they  will  be  exposed  after  his  depart- 
ure. The  prayer  is  not  for  Himself,  but  for  them. 
The  address  indicates,  that,  while  He  appreciated  what 
was  about  to  be  inflicted  on  Himself,  his  heart  throbbed 


THE   CHRISTIAN'S  GAIN  IN  CHRIST'S  DEPARTURE.       85 

with  a  sympathy,  deeper  than  mere  man  ever  has  felt, 
for  those  who  so  soon  would  forsake  Him  and  flee 
away.  It  is  to  this  ahsolute  unselfishness,  that  we  owe 
the  great  river  of  comfort,  which,  springing  from  the 
heart  of  the  Lord,  flows  through  this  farewell  dis- 
course to  his  disciples.  And  it  is  to  this,  especially, 
that  we  owe  the  words,  which  I  have  selected  as  my 
text :  "  It  is  expedient  for  you  that  I  go  away." 

As  we  are  to  recall,  to-day,  in  the  ordinance  which 
He  has  appointed,  the  death  of  our  Lord,  we  may  ap- 
propriately attempt  to  answer  the  question:  ""What 
was  the  expediency  of  Christ's  departure?"  The  in- 
quiry is  important.  For  there  is  no  devout  Chris- 
tian, who  reads  his  life  without  a  feeling,  akin  to 
envy  of  the  disciples,  who  walked  with  Him  on  earth; 
who  heard  his  words  of  celestial  wisdom;  and  beheld 
the  works  of  almighty  power,  which  attested  his  di- 
vinity. "We  efface  with  difficulty  the  impression,  that 
personal  contact  witli  a  character  so  lofty  must  have 
done  far  more,  than  the  mere  record  of  his  life, 
however  devoutly  pondered,  can  ever  do,  to  strengthen 
faith,  and  quicken  love,  and  stimulate  to  self-sacri- 
fice. The  inquiry  gains  additional  interest,  the  mo- 
ment we  recall,  how  greatly  the  personal  benevolent 
work  of  our  Lord  was  limited  by  his  death.  As 
one  has  well  said  on  this  subject:  "It  is,  indeed, 
wonderful,  that  Christ  should  never  have  employed 
force  to  establish  his  kingdom.  But  above  this 
height  of  wonder  we  may  see  another  far  higher; 
and  that  is,  that  He  restrained  his  power  in  works 
of  benevolence.  It  is  difficult  for  good  men  to  re- 
strain their  benevolent  activities,  even  when  these 
can  not  be  well  employed,  or  have  ceased  to  be  use- 
ful. How,  then,  could  Christ,  with  his  opportunities, 
forbid  his  undiminished  love  and  power  to  do  more 


86  SERMONS    ON    THE    CHRISTIAN   LIFE. 

for  men?"  Why  did  He  voluntarily  leave  his  work 
of  mercy,  when,  it  would  seem,  He  had  just  begun 
it?  Why  was  his  ministry  so  brief?  Why  were  his 
miracles  so  few;  when  He  left  a  world  still  sunk  in 
iniquity,  and  groaning  with  pain? 

I  can  not,  within  the  limits  of  a  single  sermon, 
answer  this  question  exhaustively.  All  that  I  can 
hope  to  do,  is  to  touch  upon  one  branch  of  it;  the 
gain  of  the  Christian  in  the  departure  of  the  Lord. 
"It  is  expedient  for  you  that  I  go  away." 

I.  That  we  may  have  this  gain  brought  clearly  be- 
fore us,  I  ask  your  attention,  first,  to  a  truth  with 
which  all  of  us  are,  no  doubt,  familiar :  that  the  sen- 
sations, excited  by  material  objects,  become  weak,  in  the 
'proportion  in  which  the  objects  become  familiar. 

Perhaps  no  line  of  English  poetry  is  more  often 
repeated,  than  that  which  begins  "Endymion:"  "A 
thing  of  beauty  is  a  joy  forever."  The  line  is  a 
household  word,  because  it  is  the  noble  expression 
of  a  great  truth.  But  a  thing  of  beauty  becomes  a 
permanent  joy  only,  when,  vanishing  from  sight  for 
a  time,  it  gives  opportunity  to  the  mind  to  idealize 
it.  If  the  bodily  eyes  see  it  day  after  day,  it  loses 
largely  its  power  to  excite  the  feelings.  It  must  "  go 
away"  for  a  time,  at  least,  or  it  can  not  be  a  joy  for- 
ever. To  bring  this  truth  clearly  before  our  minds, 
let  us  suppose  a  man  standing,  for  the  first  time,  be- 
fore the  falls  of  Niagara.  A  sense  of  awe  in  the 
presence  of  a  power  so  incessant  and  so  resistless 
takes  possession  of  his  soul;  and  if  he  leaves  the 
scene,  this  sense  of  awe  will  become  permanent.  He 
will  never  think  of  the  cataract,  without  a  revival 
of  the  feeling  which  the  first  sight  of  it  awakened. 
But,  let  us  suppose  that  he  builds  a  house  in  full 
view  of  the  falls,  and  sees  the  rush  of  waters  and 


THE  CHRISTIAN'S  GAIN  IN  CHRIST'S  DEPARTURE.      87 

hears  their  majestic  thunder  from  day  to  day.  You 
need  not  be  told,  that,  though  Niagara  will  not  be 
less  a  thing  of  beauty,  it  will  lose  its  power  to  en- 
chant him,  because  of  the  very  familiarity  of  his 
senses  with  the  scene. 

The  sublimest  object,  which  nature  offers  to  the 
view  of  man,  is  the  firmament  at  night,  resplendent 
with  countless  suns.  Profound  must  have  been  both 
the  awe  and  the  joy  of  the  first  man,  when  he  beheld, 
for  the  first  time,  the  vault  of  heaven  above  him, 
"glowing  with  living  sapphires."  When,  first,  for 
him, 

Hesperus  that  led 
The  starry  host,  rode  brightest,  till  the  moon, 
Rising  in  clouded  majesty,  at  length, 
Apparent  queen,  unveil'd  her  peerless  light, 
And  o'er  the  dark  her  silver  mantle  threw. 

Why  are  not  feelings  as  vivid  nightly  excited  in  every 
one  of  us?  It  is  not  because  the  heavens  have  lost 
any  of  their  sublimity.  But,  rather,  because  the  very 
familiarity  of  our  senses  with  the  spectacle  has  made 
it  impossible  for  us  to  reproduce  the  feelings,  which 
the  first  view  of  them  awakened. 

It  will  not  be  disputed,  that  the  senses  become 
wearied,  or,  at  least,  satiated,  by  the  too  continuous 
impact  upon  them  of  forms  of  material  beauty  or 
sublimity.  The  fact  I  do  not  stop  to  explain.  Ac- 
cepting it,  for  the  purposes  of  this  sermon,  as  ulti- 
mate, I  go  on  to  say,  that  in  the  light  of  it,  we  begin 
to  see  one  element  of  the  expediency  of  Christ's  de- 
parture. Had  lie  remained  in  the  world,  had  his 
life  continued  longer  than  it  did,  or  had  his  miracles 
been  more  often  repeated,  men  would  have  ceased 
to  be  impressed  by  them.  In  order  that  the  influ- 
ence of  the  life  of  Christ  on  men  might  be  a  per- 


88  SERMONS    ON    THE    CHKISTIAN    LIFE. 

manent  influence;  abiding  with  the  world;  it  was 
necessary  that  he  should  "  go  away." 

All  who  have  read  the  history  of  the  disciples, 
who,  at  this  time,  were  mourning  the  predicted  de- 
parture of  the  Saviour,  know  how  much  deeper  was 
the  impression,  which  they  received  from  his  life  after 
his  death,  than  was  that,  which  they  received  while 
He  lived.  Within  a  few  weeks  after  the  crucifixion, 
they  made  far  greater  advances  in  growth  into  his 
likeness,  than  they  had  made  during  the  years  they 
were  his  companions.  The  longer  He  remained  with 
them,  holy  and  loving  as  He  was,  the  less  profound 
was  the  impression  which  his  life  made  upon  their 
souls.  And  this  He  saw;  and  therefore  said  of  Him- 
self: "Except  a  grain  of  wheat  fall  into  the  ground 
and  die  it  abideth  alone,  but  if  it  die  it  bringeth  forth 
fruit:"  and  again:  "I,  if  I  be  lifted  up,  will  draw  all 
men  unto  me."  And  now,  just  before  the  passion, 
which,  as  He  knows,  will  culminate  in  his  death,  He 
reiterates  the  same  great  truth,  in  the  words:  "It  is 
expedient  for  you  that  I  go  away." 

There  is  nothing  exceptional  in  this.  "We  see  the 
outworking  of  the  same  law  in  daily  life.  There 
is  many  a  man  upon  whom,  while  she  lived,  the 
parental  love  and  the  Christian  example  of  a  de- 
voted mother  exerted  little  influence;  but  who,  when 
she  had  "gone  away,"  as  Christ  went  away  from 
these  disciples,  began  to  feel  the  worth  of  her  love 
and  the  beauty  of  her  example;  and  continued  to  feel 
them  more  and  more  deeply,  until  at  last  they  trans- 
figured his  life.  And,  therefore,  let  me  say  to  those, 
who  are  tempted  to  discouragement,  as  they  seem 
to  themselves,  to  see  their  Christian  influence  wasted 
on  those  whom  God  has  given  them;  it  will  be  but 
in   accordance  with   a  great  law,  that   is  operative 


THE  CHRISTIAN'S  GAIN  IN  CHRIST'S  DEPARTURE.      89 

in  all  society,  if  the  power  of  your  life  shall  not 
be  manifest  in  the  lives  of  your  children,  until 
God  shall  have  called  you  away.  You  may  do  by 
your  death,  what  you  can  not  do  by  your  life.  Let 
no  delay  discourage  you.  It  was  so  with  the  Master. 
Why  may  it  not  be  so  with  the  disciple?  The  im- 
pression of  his  life  on  them  was  beginning  to  be 
weakened,  by  the  very  fact  of  their  daily  contact. 
It  was  expedient  for  them,  therefore,  and  for  the 
world  itself,  that  He  should  return  to  the  Father. 

II.  Another  element  of  this  expediency  will  ap- 
pear, if  we  recall  the  fact,  that  the  object  of  the  Gospel 
is  to  form  in  man  a  character,  independent  of  human 
help,  and  superior  to  circumstance. 

I  state  a  truth,  obvious  to  every  one  who  has  stud- 
ied the  Gospel,  when  I  say,  that  its  ultimate  object, 
so  far  as  this  world  and  his  fellow-men  are  concerned, 
is  the  character  of  the  disciple.  It  may  have  a  higher 
object  so  far  as  God  is  concerned,  and  so  far  as  the 
future  world  is  concerned.  I  believe,  of  course,  that, 
as  the  highest  act,  which  can  engage  the  faculties  of 
a  created  being,  is  the  worship  of  the  uncreated  God; 
the  end  of  the  Gospel  is  to  prepare  man  for  imme- 
diate and  adoring  communion  with  the  Father  of 
spirits.  But  for  this  world,  full  of  relations  with 
his  fellow-men,  the  end  of  the  Gospel  is  the  creation 
and  development  of  a  character  like  that  of  Christ 
himself;  a  character  dependent  on  the  fewest  pos- 
sible human  and  material  aids.  The  ruin  which  sin 
had  caused  was  so  thorough,  that,  at  the  first,  man 
was  aided,  in  his  endeavors  to  attain  righteousness,  by 
special  interpositions;  by  miracles;  by  thcophanies; 
by  an  elaborate  ritual;  by  a  detailed  law;  by  a  long 
succession  of  inspired  prophets.  He  needed  every 
human  and  material  help  that  God  could  give  him. 


90  SERMONS    ON    THE    CHRISTIAN    LIFE. 

But  the  fullness  of  times  came.  A  period  arrived, 
when  these  detailed  and  abundant  helps  became, 
not  only  needless,  but  profitless ;  burdens  instead  of 
supports.  Then  appeared  the  incarnate  Son  of  God; 
the  end  of  the  law  for  righteousness.  His  life  and 
character  became  to  men  what  the  law  had  been. 
And,  so  it  was,  that  his  disciples  leaned  upon  Him, 
just  as  before  men  had  leaned  upon  the  law,  and 
the  prophets,  and  the  miracles,  of  the  elder  dispen- 
sation. And  it  was  the  design  of  God,  that  the  dis- 
ciples should  thus  imbibe  Christ's  spirit,  and  become 
strong  with  Christ's  strength. 

But  a  new  danger  arose.  There  is  a  leaning  on 
another  for  support,  the  effect  of  which  is,  not  to 
strengthen,  but  to  weaken  character.  And  in  the 
case  of  the  earliest  disciples  there  was  great  danger, 
that,  from  their  daily  contact  with  Jesus,  they  would 
learn  to  rely  on  Him  as  a  material  presence,  rather 
than  on  the  spiritual  strength,  which  his  presence 
was  intended  to  impart.  Christ  would  thus  have  be- 
come an  external  reliance,  instead  of  a  source  of  per- 
sonal inspiration.  They  would  have  turned  to  Him 
for  directions,  instead  of  imbibing  from  his  life  a 
spirit.  They  would  have  obtained  from  Him  com- 
mands in  particular  cases,  instead  of  forming  upon 
his,  a  vigorous  and  self-reliant  character.  And  it 
was  because  this  danger  could  be  averted  by  his  de- 
parture alone,  that  our  Lord  said  to  his  disciples: 
"It  is  expedient  for  you  that  I  go  away." 

I  do  not  know  that  I  am  understood.  But  I  think 
that  all  will  understand  me,  when  I  say,  that  there 
comes  a  time  in  the  life  of  every  boy,  when  it  is 
the  duty  of  the  father  to  throw  his  child  upon  his 
own  resources;  when  it  behooves  the  father  to  refuse 
longer  to  make  opinions,  or  to  decide  questions  of 


THE    CHRISTIAN'S    GAIN   IN    CHRIST'S    DEPARTURE.     91 

conscience  for  him;  when  tutelage  and  restraint 
should  cease;  and  responsibility,  and  liberty,  and 
self-reliance  should  begin.  There  is  a  time,  when  the 
father  must  "go  away"  from  the  boy.  Otherwise, 
force  of  character,  and  power  to  do  great  things,  to 
resist  great  temptations,  and  to  bear  great  burdens 
will  become  impossibilities.  So  is  it  with  Christ  and 
his  people.  It  was  the  design  of  Christ  that  his  peo- 
ple should  walk  fearlessly  amid  evil;  strong  not  only, 
but  self-reliant  also,  in  the  spiritual  strength  which 
they  derive  from  Him.  The  lofty  piety,  the  large  self- 
sacriiice,  the  faith,  and  hope,  and  love,  which  have 
beautified  the  lives  of  so  many  of  his  disciples,  would 
have  been  far  more  difficult  than  at  present,  if  not 
absolutely  impossible  of  attainment,  had  Jesus  of 
Nazareth  remained  in  the  world.  His  people  would 
have  leaned  upon  the  Man  ;  they  would  have  invoked 
his  miraculous  power;  they  would  have  sought  refuge 
from  personal  danger  in  the  omnipotence  of  their 
Master ;  they  would  have  found  strength  only  in  his 
material  nearness ;  and  they  would  have  been  weak 
in  proportion  to  their  physical  distance  from  Him. 
You  and  I  are  stronger  to-day;  we  are  better  men 
and  women  every  way,  more  like  Christ  himself;  than 
we  could  have  been,  had  his  earthly  life  continued 
until  now.  It  was  expedient  for  us  that  He  should  go 
away. 

III.  We  shall  see  another  element  of  this  expe- 
diency, if  we  call  to  mind  the  truth,  that  the  imita- 
tion of  an  example  is  corrected  by  the  example's  personal 
absence. 

We  all  know,  that  there  is  a  lower  and  a  higher 
imitation.  The  lower  is  mere  servile  copying.  It 
seizes  hold  of  nothing  more  permanent  or  noble, 
than  the  mere  exterior;  the  peculiarities  and  man- 


92  SERMONS    ON    THE    CHRISTIAN    LIFE. 

ners.  Infinitely  above  this,  is  the  imitation,  which 
we  describe  by  the  phrase,  imbibing  the  spirit  of 
another.  This  latter,  of  course,  is  the  imitation 
which  the  Gospel  expects  of  us,  as  the  followers  of 
Christ.  Each  one  of  us  is  expected  to  be  able  to  say 
with  Paul:  "For  to  me  to  live  is  Christ."  "I  am 
crucified  with  Christ,  nevertheless  I  live,  and  yet,  not 
I,  but  Christ  liveth  in  me."  We  can  easily  picture  a 
man  treading  in  the  footsteps  of  Christ;  begin- 
ning a  ministry  in  Galilee ;  repeating  the  words  that 
he  uttered  on  its  hill-slopes,  and  on  the  shores  of  the 
sea  of  Tiberias;  refusing  to  dwell  in  one  place;  jour- 
neying through  Palestine  from  Lebanon  to  the  south 
of  Judea;  carefully  seeking  the  spots  made  sacred 
by  the  presence  of  Jesus,  in  order  that  his  life  may 
in  all  respects  be  like  that  of  his  Master;  and  at 
last  consenting  to  be  crucified  on  the  very  hill,  on 
which  the  Lord  himself  offered  up  his  life  in  our  be- 
half. But  after  all  had  been  done,  no  one  of  us  would 
think  of  affirming,  that  he  had  followed  Christ  as 
Christ  commands  his  people  to  follow  Him.  And  we 
can  picture  another,  filled  with  a  desire  to  be  about 
his  father's  business  like  that  which  impelled  the 
Lord  himself  in  all  things  to  seek  his  Father's  will; 
living  in  a  like  communion  with  God;  loving  and 
sympathizing  with  his  fellow-men  ;  devoting  all  that 
he  is  and  all  that  he  has  to  their  highest  well-being: 
and,  though  such  a  man  knows  nothing  of  the  geog- 
raphy of  the  holy  land,  and  has  scarcely  imagination 
enough,  to  call  vividly  before  him  one  single  scene 
in  the  life  of  the  Lord ;  we  would  still  say,  that  the 
"mind  is  in  him  which  was  also  in.Christ." 

It  is  this  latter  imitation,  this  spiritual  following, 
this  imbibing  his  spirit,  that  Christ  would  see  in 
all  of  us.      Without  it  all   mere  outward  imitation 


THE    CHRISTIAN'S    GAIN    IN    CHRIST'S    DEPARTURE.     93 

is  worthless.  Yea,  though  we  could  repeat  the  very 
miracles  of  Christ  himself,  it  would  avail  us  not  one 
whit,  if  below  it  all  we  had  not  this  spiritual  life 
that  was  his.  How  well  the  great  Apostle  to  the 
Gentiles  understood  this,  let  his  own  words  testify: 
"  Though  I  have  the  gift  of  prophecy,  and  the 
tongues  of  angels,  and  understand  all  mystery  and 
knowledge;  though  I  have  all  faith  so  that  I  could 
remove  mouutains;  and  though  I  bestow  all  my 
goods  to  feed  the  poor,  and  give  my  body  to  be 
burned,  and  have  not  love,  it  profiteth  me  nothing." 
There  was  danger, — and  by  no  means  slight  dan- 
ger,— that  the  disciples  of  Christ,  living  near  his  per- 
son, would  give  themselves  to  this  lower  and  mere  out- 
ward imitation;  that  they  would  copy  his  acts  instead 
of  imbibing  his  spirit.  On  more  than  one  occasion 
did  this  tendency  reveal  itself.  They  heard  their 
Lord's  judgments  pronounced  on  sin;  and,  imitating 
Him,  would  have  called  down  fire  from  heaven. 
They  beheld  Him  casting  out  devils;  and  themselves 
sought  to  cast  them  out.  Like  the  Pharisees,  who 
tithed  mint,  anise,  and  cummin,  and  forgot  the 
weightier  matters  of  the  law,  they  seized  upon  that 
which  was  outward,  and  temporary,  and  exceptional 
in  Christ's  life;  and  failed  to  learn  the  secret  of  his 
life  that  lay  below  them  all.  And,  therefore,  He  said 
to  them :  "  It  is  expedient  for  you  that  I  go  away." 
How  soon  this  expediency  was  revealed !  For  when 
He  had  gone,  that  which  was  outward  and  peculiar 
in  his  life  went  with  Him.  And,  as  they  recalled 
their  absent  Lord,  these  outward  peculiarities  re- 
tired from  the  first  place  in  their  recollection.  Mem- 
ories of  his  deeper  life  became  more  vivid; — mem- 
ories of  earnest  prayer,  of  a  love  for  men  that 
passed  all  knowledge,  of  a  self-sacrifice  that  gave 


94  SERMONS    ON    THE    CHRISTIAN    LIFE. 

Himself  to  death.  And,  as  these  stood  forth  before 
them  when  they  sought  to  follow  Him;  you  know, 
how  their  characters  grew  stronger,  and  their  love 
deepened,  until  the  spirit  of  Christ  so  shone  in  them, 
that,  men  took  knowledge  of  them  that  they  had 
been  with  Jesus.  The  Peter,  who  had  denied  his 
Master,  preached  Christ  crucified  before  the  council ; 
and  the  Son  of  Thunder  was  able  to  write  the  fourth 
Gospel,  and  that  epistle,  in  which  he  reaches  a  tone 
so  Christ-like,  in  the  words:  "If  Christ  laid  down 
his  life  for  us,  we  ought  to  lay  down  our  lives  for 
the  brethren." 

And,  as  it  was  expedient  for  the  first  disciples, 
so  it  was  expedient  for  us  who  have  come  after  them, 
that  Christ  should  return  to  the  Father.  Had  He 
remained  on  the  earth,  repeating,  from  that  day  to 
this,  the  works  He  wrought  in  Palestine,  we  also  should 
have  lost  sight  of  his  spirit  in  the  overshadowing 
history  of  his  outward  career.  Our  Lord  remained 
on  earth  only  long  enough,  to  accomplish  his  sacri- 
ficial mission,  and  to  show  to  men  the  spirit  of  the 
perfect  human  life.  It  is  this  spirit,  that  we  must 
imbibe  in  our  endeavors  to  become  like  Him.  Not 
an  outward  mechanical  copying,  but  an  inward  spir- 
itual following  of  the  Master,  is  the  high  privilege, 
as  it  is  the  duty  of  the  disciple. 

IV.  We  shall  see  still  further  proof  of  the  expedi- 
ency of  Christ's  departure,  by  holding  before  us  its 
relation  to  the  universal  triumph  of  Christianity. 

The  proclamation  of  Christianity  as  the  exclusive, 
the  ultimate,  and  the  universal  religion,  was  not  an 
after-thought  of  the  Apostles.  That  it  was  in  the 
mind  of  Jesus  himself,  we  are  not  left  to  prove  from 
a  single  declaration,  like  the  declaration :  "  I,  if  I  be 
lifted  up,  will  draw  all  men  unto  me."     The  predic- 


THE    CHRISTIAN'S   GAIN    IN    CHRIST'S    DEPARTURE.     95 

tion  of  its  universality  is  to  be  read,  quite  as  clearly, 
in  that  sublime  statement  to  the  woman  of  Samaria, 
in  which  He  places  the  heart  of  man,  as  the  shrine 
in  which  God  delights,  over  against  both  Gerizim 
and  Jerusalem;  and  in  the  great  commission:  "Go, 
teach  all  nations,  baptizing  them  in  the  name  of  the 
Father,  and  of  the  Son,  and  of  the  Holy  Ghost." 

But  what  progress,  toward  this  universal  suprem- 
acy, was  made  by  his  faith,  so  long  as  He  lived  in  the 
world?  His  disciples  were  men  of  his  own  nation; 
they  were,  largely,  men  of  his  own  province  of  Gali- 
lee. Only  once,  during  his  ministry,  so  far  as  we  know, 
did  He  travel  beyond  the  boundary  of  Palestine. 
What,  during  his  life,  was  Jesus  of  Nazareth  to  the 
great  outlying  peoples  of  the  empire?  How  lame 
and  impotent  a  conclusion  to  a  ministry,  attested  by 
stupendous  miracles,  was  the  little  company  of  disci- 
ples, which  the  ascension  of  Christ  left  orphaned  in 
a  hostile  or  contemptuous  world!  Had  the  history 
of  Christianity  ended  with  the  earthly  life  of  Jesus, 
we  should  still  have  been  compelled  to  assert  the  ex- 
pediency of  his  departure;  and  this,  for  the  reason, 
that  the  revelation  of  the  grace  of  God,  in  the  life  of 
Jesus,  though  authenticated  by  "signs  and  wonders," 
failed  to  secure  the  belief  of  his  own  people,  and 
made  no  impression  upon  the  w*>rld  at  large.  And, 
what  seems  remarkable  to  the  casual  reader  of  his 
life,  the  longer  He  remained  in  the  world  after  his 
first  provincial  and  external  successes,  the  more  con- 
spicuous his  failure  became.  There  seems  to  have 
been  a  point  in  his  ministry,  when  the  crowds,  which 
first  had  followed  Him,  began  to  fall  away.  From 
that  point  onward,  not  a  day  seems  to  have  passed 
by,  on  which  some  did  not  turn  back  from  following 
after  Him.     Miracles  were  no  longer  needed,  to  pro- 


96  SERMONS    ON    THE    CHRISTIAN    LIFE. 

vide  food  for  the  crowds  of  listening  and  excited  peo- 
ple. And,  at  the  last,  betrayed  by  one,  denied  by 
another,  and  forsaken  by  all  of  his  chosen  compan- 
ions; He  is  left  in  the  hands  of  his  malignant  foes, 
to  snifer  and  to  die  alone.  Where,  now,  is  the 
promise  of  his  conquest  of  the  world? 

Contrast — if  you  would  know  the  expediency  of 
his  departure — contrast  this  apparent  failure,  with 
the  movement  of  Christianity  after  He  had  definitely 
"gone  away."  after  the  crucifixion,  the  resurrection, 
and  ascension.  At  once,  the  spiritual  power  and  the 
universality  of  Christianity  were  revealed.  The  first 
Christian  sermon  was  addressed  by  Peter  to  men  who 
represented  three  continents;  and  the  conquest  of 
the  world,  by  the  faith  of  Christ,  was  begun.  From 
that  day  to  this,  the  movement  of  Christianity — re- 
tarded, though  it  has  often  been,  by  the  unbelief  or  the 
corruption  of  the  Church — has  been  an  advance  to- 
ward its  predestined  triumph.  And  whatever  else  has 
checked  it,  it  has  never  been  checked  by  the  bar- 
riers of  climate,  of  nation,  or  of  race.  For,  having 
"gone  away"  from  earth,  the  presence  of  Christ,  at 
any  moment,  is  limited  to  no  country.  No  people 
may  monopolize  Him.  No  city  is  the  exclusive  cap- 
ital of  his  spiritual  Kingdom.  Nowhere  is  the  cen- 
ter; everywhere  is  tfce  circumference  of  his  gracious 
and  redeeming  presence. 

V.  But  all  this  and  more,  on  which  I  can  not 
dwell,  is  included  in  the  words  of  the  Lord,  which 
immediately  follow  the  text:  "If  I  go  not  away, 
the  Comforter  can  not  come."  We  lose  the  material 
presence  of  Christ,  that,  through  the  indwelling 
Spirit,  the  power  of  Christ  may  be  within  us.  We 
lose  the  external  help  of  his  nearness,  that  we  may 
possess  the  internal  might,  which  the  Comforter  be- 


THE  CHRISTIAN'S  GAIN  IN  CHRIST'S  DEPARTURE.      97 

stows,  in  taking  the  things  of  Christ  and  showing 
them  to  our  spirits.  The  change  is  from  the  exterior 
and  temporal  to  the  interior  and  eternal;  from  the 
relation  of  friendship  to  the  possession  of  character. 
We  can  not  hear  his  words,  but  we  can  imbibe  his 
spirit.  We  may  not  touch  the  hem  of  his  garment, 
but  we  may  be  clothed  upon  with  Him.  There  may 
not  be  an  outward  walking  with  Him;  but,  what 
was  largely  an  impossibility  for  the  first  disciples, 
there  may  be  a  communion  of  our  souls  with  Him. 
It  is  not  possible,  indeed,  to  invoke  his  miraculous 
power  to  aid  us  in  our  lives;  but  we  may,  as  they 
could  not,  be  strengthened  with  might  by  his  spirit 
in  the  inner  man.  Every  way,  therefore,  is  there 
gain  to  the  disciple  and  the  world.  The  Church  is 
not  limited  by  the  possibility  of  nearness  to  his 
body;  but  his  spirit  is  everywhere.  The  Church's 
shrine  is  no  longer  in  Jerusalem  alone;  but  wher- 
ever men  lift  their  hearts  in  believing  prayer  and 
praise.  Religion  is  spiritual,  and  therefore  eternal. 
Let  no  heart  mourn  to-day,  then,  because  we  can 
not  look  upon  the  body  of  Christ,  or  talk  with  Him 
at  his  table,  as  men  talked  with  Him  when  on  earth. 
Let  no  one  imagine  this  to  be  no  real  communion, 
because  we  can  not  see  Him  face  to  face.  His  spirit 
is  with  us;  and  our  hearts,  as  they  throb  in  sympa- 
thy with  the  great  love  which  impelled  Him  to  the 
sacrifice  which  we  remember,  can  hold  communion 
with  Him,  who  now  is  present,  wherever  two  or 
three  are  met  together  in  his  name.  Let  us  rejoice 
that  He  has  gone  away;  knowing  the  truth  of  the 
blessed  paradox,  that  He  returned  to  the  Father, 
that  He  might  be  nearer  to  the  world. 

These  words  will  have  been  spoken  in  vain,  if  they 
do  not  leave,  on  all  of  us,  a  profound  impression  of 


98  SERMONS    ON    THE    CHRISTIAN    LIFE. 

the  spiritual  character  of  the  religion  of  Christ.  The 
Gospel  is  satisfied  with  nothing  except  a  character 
and  life  like  Christ's.  It  is  not  content  that  we  shall 
rest  in  any  thing  outward :  though  it  be  as  sacred  as 
the  house  of  God;  the  sacrament  of  Christ's  death; 
yea,  as  the  very  body  of  our  Lord.  With  reverence 
be  it  said,  our  Lord  would  remove  from  his  Church 
this  blessed  eucharist,  as  He  removed  Himself  from 
his  disciples,  if  He  saw  that  it  was  standing  in  the 
way,  or  in  the  place  of  growth  into  likeness  to  Him- 
self. Nothing  but  that  likeness  will  satisfy  Him;  and 
nothing  but  that  likeness  will  satisfy  our  own  hearts. 
The  outward  is  ever  for  the  inward.  The  material 
is  in  order  to  the  spiritual.  The  Church  is  in  order 
to  life.  The  sacrament  is  in  order  that  we  may  be 
sanctified.  If  Christ  would  not  prolong  his  earthly 
life,  knowing  that  his  disciples  would  make  it  a  hin- 
drance and  stumbling-block,  a  minister  of  spiritual 
weakuess  instead  of  spiritual  might;  if  it  was  expe- 
dient for  them  that  He  should  go  away;  think  you 
that  He  will  look  with  satisfaction  upon  us,  as  we  rest 
ultimately  in  these  outward  services  of  his  Church; 
these  songs  of  praise,  this  eating  and  drinking  in  his 
name  ?  No,  my  brethren ;  there  is  something  loftier 
than  these  services.  There  is  someting  more  sacred 
than  the  sacrament.  There  is  the  spirit  of  Christ. 
There  is  a  love  like  his,  wdiich  loves  all  men,  and 
overcomes  all  obstacles,  and  endures  through  all  time. 
There  is  the  image  of  God  to  be  recovered,  and  con- 
fiding communion  with  Him  to  be  achieved.  O,  let  us 
learn  to  look,  through  all  these  material  and  worldly 
aids,  to  the  ultimate,  the  spiritual,  the  eternal  bestow- 
ments  of  the  Gospel !  These  aids,  like  his  visible  life, 
are  earthly  and  temporal.  The  Supper  itself  will 
abide  only  till  lie  come  again.     But  the  spirit  that 


THE  CHRISTIAN'S  GAIN  IN  CHRIST'S  DEPARTURE.      99 

was  his,  and  that  may  be  ours,  is  the  very  end  of  all 
his  sacrifice,  and  should  be  the  end  of  all  our  prayer 
and  our  endeavor.  For  that  spirit  is,  itself,  the  great 
inheritance  of  his  people ;  and  it  alone,  of  all  the  ob- 
jects that  we  can  now  attain,  is  incorruptible  and 
undefiled,  and  fadeth  not  away. 

Finally,  the  truth,  which  we  have  had  before  us 
to-day,  may  well  be  employed — as  it  certainly  is  cal- 
culated— to  dissipate  the  impression,  that  the  Re- 
deemer, whom  we  proclaim  to  you  who  thus  far 
have  not  accepted  him,  is  valuable  only  as  a  shield 
to  interpose  between  you  and  the  future  punish- 
ment, which  your  conscience  proclaims  to  be  your 
desert,  and  distinctly  prophesies  to  be  your  destiny. 
He  is  valuable,  indeed,  as  such  a  shield.  But  the 
supreme  blessing,  which  follows  his  acceptance,  is 
the  bestowment  of  this  perfect  character,  of  which 
He  is  both  the  source  and  the  example.  Holiness 
floats  as  a  dim  and  distant  vision,  indistinct  and  un- 
attainable, until  Christ  is  seen.  To  use  language  now 
quite  popular, — without  Him,  man  must  adjust  his 
life  to  his  material  environment,  and  be  directed  by 
his  lower  and  sensual  impulses;  and  the  holiness, 
which  sometimes  attracts  him  in  the  distance,  must 
remain  distant  forever.  In  Him  alone — now  that,  by 
his  going  away,  his  life  and  death  can  exert  their 
legitimate  influence  on  men — in  Him  alone,  is  holi- 
ness made  known,  and  made  possible  to  our  souls. 

I  come,  then,  to  you,  O,  men  and  women,  who, 
though  sorely  sick  with  sin,  and  tempted  to  despair 
of  its  removal,  still  see  in  yourselves  the  ruins  of  a 
godlike  character,  which  you  sometimes  dare  to  hope 
may  be  rebuilded.  I  hold  forth  Jesus  Christ;  in 
union  to  whom  this  hope  will  grow  to  full  assurance. 
He  came  with  this  high  object:  to  restore  in  man  the 


100  SERMONS    ON    THE    CHRISTIAN    LIFE. 

image  of  God.  For  this,  He  lived  a  human  life.  For 
this,  He  died  a  sacrificial  death.  To  bestow  this  great- 
est, all-including  blessing,  He  even  limited,  in  time 
and  in  number,  his  miracles  of  blessing ;  and  went 
away.  God  has  approved  his  work,  and  raised  Him 
from  the  dead.  Nothing  remains,  but  that  you  ac- 
cept Him  as  your  Redeemer;  and,  living  in  commun- 
ion with  Him,  catch  his  spirit,  and  grow  into  his 
imaece  evermore. 


VII. 

THE  SANCTIFICATION  OF  THE  SECULAR 
LIFE. 

Whether  therefore  ye  eat,  or  drink,  or  whatsoever  ye  do, 
do  all  to  the  glory  of  God. — I.  Corinthians  x,  31. 

We  speak  familiarly  of  John  as  the  Apostle  of 
love,  of  James  as  the  Apostle  of  works,  of  Peter  as 
the  Apostle  of  character,  and  of  Paul  as  the  Apos- 
tle of  doctrine.  But  we  do  not  mean  any  thing 
more,  than  that  each  of  these  subjects,  respectively, 
is  the  one,  upon  which  the  Apostle,  to  whom  it 
gives  a  title,  chiefly  dwells.  Above  all,  we  do  not 
mean  to  assert,  that  any  one  Apostle  intended  to 
depreciate  any  subject,  which  gives  special  tone  to 
the  writings  of  either  of  the  others.  I  have  spoken 
of  Paul,  as  the  Apostle,  especially,  of  doctrine.  At 
the  same  time,  it  would  be  difficult  to  find,  in  John's 
epistles,  a  more  impassioned  assertion  of  God's  love, 
than  the  statement:  "I  am  persuaded  that  neither 
death  nor  life,  nor  angels  nor  principalities  nor 
powers,  nor  things  present  nor  things  to  come,  nor 
height  nor  depth,  nor  any  other  creature,  shall  be 
able  to  separate  us  from  the  love  of  God  which  is 
in  Christ  Jesus  our  Lord."     It  would  be  difficult  to 

(101) 


102  SERMONS    ON  THE    CHRISTIAN    LIFE. 

find  a  more  emphatic  affirmation  of  the  necessity  of 
Christian  character,  even  in  the  epistles  of  Peter, 
than  this  extract  from  Paul's  letter  to  the  Gala- 
tians:  "But  the  fruit  of  the  Spirit  is  love,  joy,  peace, 
long  suffering,  gentleness,  goodness,  faith,  meekness, 
temperance :  against  such  there  is  no  law.  And 
they  that  are  Christ's  have  crucified  the  flesh  with 
the  affections  and  lusts."  .And  if  James  is  the  Apos- 
tle peculiarly  of  good  works,  I  am  sure  that  he  does 
not  assert  their  absolute  necessity,  with  more  clear- 
ness and  decision,  than  the  great  Apostle  to  the 
Gentiles,  in  every  epistle  that  bears  his  name. 

It  is  a  peculiarity  of  Paul's  letters,  that,  if  in  the 
beginning  of  them,  he  dwells  almost  exclusively  on 
great  truths ;  in  their  concluding  portions,  he  presses 
on  the  attention  of  those,  to  whom  he  is  writing, 
counsels,  exhortations,  and  precepts,  all  designed  to 
make  them  feel  deeply  the  necessity  of  glorifying 
God,  by  the  good  works,  which  will  commend  them 
to  their  fellow-men.  Such  an  exhortation  is  the  text. 
It  is  the  more  forceful,  because,  as  we  read  it,  sep- 
arated from  its  connections,  it  seizes  hold  of  two 
acts — those  of  eating  and  drinking — which  we  sel- 
dom connect  with  religion ;  and  teaches  us  that, 
even  in  these  animal  acts,  as  well  as  in  every  higher 
act,  we  may  worship  the  Most  High.  "AVhether 
ye  eat  or  drink,  or  whatsoever  ye  do,  do  all  to  the 
glory  of  God."  Such  an  exhortation  needs  no  ex- 
tended explanation.  "We  see,  at  once,  that  it  is 
intended  to  enforce  upon  Christians,  the  duty  of 
serving  God  in  their  week-day  life;  the  duty  of 
making  sacred  their  most  common  and  secular  af- 
fairs. This  is  the  subject,  on  which  I  purpose  to 
speak  at  this  time. 

I  suppose,  that  in  respect  to  no  other  subject,  is 


THE    SANCTIFICATION    OF    THE    SECULAR   LIFE.       103 

our  ordinary  mental  habit  so  vicious.  It  requires  a 
mental  struggle,  not  to  connect  religion  exclusively 
with  technically  religious  acts  and  states ;  with  prayer 
and  the  Bible,  and  the  services  of  the  Church,  and 
the  sacraments.  We  call  these  religious  or  Chris- 
tian; and  the  remainder,  and  by  far  the  largest  part 
of  our  activities,  we  describe  as  secular.  "We  set 
the  one  class  over  against  the  other;  and,  thus,  are 
tempted  to  indulge  in  that  phariseeism,  which  can 
be  devoted  to  God  on  the  Lord's  day,  and  quite  as 
thoroughly  devoted  to  worldly  interests,  throughout 
the  remaining  six  days.  Moreover,  when  we  place 
a  statement,  like  the  text,  side  by  side  with  the  act- 
ual necessities  of  life;  we  are  tempted  to  despair. 
To  be  told,  on  the  one  hand,  that  God  demands  all 
our  time,  and  all  our  talents;  and  to  find,  on  the 
other,  that  the  severest  labor  during  all  the  week 
scarcely  suffices,  in  the  terrible  strife  for  bread,  to 
gain  a  competency  for  the  vast  majority  of  men, — 
is,  often,  to  excite  the  suspicion,  that  the  God  of 
Providence  and  the  God  of  the  Bible  are  not  one; 
and  to  start  the  question ;  if  God  would  have  us  give 
our  lives  to  Him,  why  has  He  made  the  conditions 
of  life  what  they  are  ? 

I  do  not  intend  to  answer  this  question  directly. 
Rather,  do  I  hope,  that  we  shall  find  no  necessity 
for  asking  it,  when  this  sermon  shall  be  concluded. 
Instead  of  replying  to  it,  I  take  up  the  text  again. 
I  ask  you  to  reflect  on  the  great  truth,  which  the 
Apostle  deemed  so  important;  the  truth,  that  this 
secular  life,  with  all  its  struggles  for  food,  with 
all  its  anxieties  at  home  and  in  business,  with 
its  afflictions  and  amusements,  with  its  eating  and 
drinking, — that  this  common  and  daily  round  of 
toil  may  become  one  ceaseless  act  of  worship ;  an  act 


104  SERMONS   ON   THE   CHRISTIAN   LIFE. 

of  worship,  as  real  and  grateful  as  any  of  those, 
which  we  associate  with  church  or  closet;  the  offer- 
ing of  incense,  as  acceptahle  to  our  Father,  as  prayer 
or  song  or  sacrament.  This  is  what  Paul  means, 
when  he  says:  "Whether  ye  eat  or  drink,  or  what- 
soever ye  do,  do  all  to  the  glory  of  God." 

In  addressing  you  on  this  subject — the  sanctifica- 
tion  of  the  daily  life — as  brought  to  view  in  these 
words ;  I  shall  speak,  only  of  the  possibility  and  the 
method  of  this  sanctification.  I  shall  answer  the 
questions:  Can  we  obey  the  Apostle's  injunction? 
If  we  can,  how  shall  be  obey  it? 

I.  In  considering  the  possibility  of  sanctifying  the 
daily  life,  let  us  turn  to  the  word  of  God  for  aid. 
And  let  us  begin,  by  calling  to  mind  the  truth,  that 
the  Old  Testament  not  only  teaches  this  possibility, 
but  ascribes  even  to  inanimate  nature  the  function 
of  glorifying  God. 

I  speak  of  the  Old  Testament,  especially,  because 
it  is  supposed  by  many,  that  the  older  volume  of  the 
Scriptures  gives  special  support  to  the  distinction,  be- 
tween sacred  acts  and  secular  acts;  because  the  life 
of  the  Jew  was  so  divided  by  the  law  of  Moses,  that 
he  knew  what  time  to  devote  to  God,  and  what  to 
give  to  his  own  affairs.  The  ceremonies  of  his  re- 
ligious worship  were  so  specifically  ordered,  and  the 
precepts  of  his  religion  were  so  exact  and  various, 
that  we  are  disposed  to  think,  that  it  was  natural  for 
the  Jew,  to  call  compliance  with,  or  obedience  to 
them,  the  worship  of  God ;  and  to  call  the  rest  of 
his  life  his  secular  life.  Phariseeism,  the  divorce 
between  religion  and  daily  life,  is,  therefore,  really 
thought  by  many,  to  have  sprung  out  of  Judaism, 
as  naturally  as  the  fruit  springs  out  of  the  flower. 
But   this   opinion   is   the  result,  either   of  absolute 


THE    SANCTIFICATION    OF    THE    SECULAR   LIFE.       105 

Ignorance  of  Judaism,  or  of  a  false  interpretation 
of  the  Old  Testament.  A  careful  student  of  the 
laws  of  the  Hebrews  will  find  in  them  not  the 
slightest  germ  of  phariseeism.  On  the  contrary, 
he  will  see,  on  every  page,  an  evident  and  most 
painstaking  endeavor,  to  connect  the  glory  and  the 
worship  of  God  with  every,  even  the  least  impor- 
tant, act  of  daily  life.  If  these  laws  have  any  de- 
sign apparent  in  them,  it  is  to  impel  their  subjects 
to  think  of  Jehovah,  not  only  in  the  stated  worship 
of  the  tabernacle  or  temple,  but  in  buying  and  sell- 
ing, in  eating  and  drinking,  in  paying  taxes  to  the 
government,  in  household  employments,  and  in  pub- 
lic holidays.  The  entire  national  life,  public  and 
private,  is  studiously  associated  with  the  worship  of 
Jehovah.  It  would  be  impossible  to  imagine  a  code 
of  laws  more  thoroughly  unified  by  a  single  purpose, 
than  is  the  Mosaic  Code  unified  by  the  purpose  of 
educating  the  Hebrew  people,  in  all  things,  even 
eating  and  drinking,  consciously  and  purposely  to 
glorify  God.  Nothing  is  secular  in  the  Hebrew  life, 
as  its  ideal  is  portrayed  in  the  Old  Testament. 

So  it  is,  that  Hebrew  poetry,  animated  by  the 
spirit  of  the  Hebrew  religion,  ascribes  even  to  in- 
animate nature  a  religious  life.  Poetry  addresses 
itself  to  a  habit  of  mind,  congruous  to  the  life  of 
those,  for  whom  it  is  written.  If  it  did  not,  it 
would  find  no  response.  The  poet  would  speak  in 
an  unknown  tongue.  His  lyrics  would  be  unsung. 
His  epics  would  be  unread,  and  would  soon  be  for- 
gotten. He  speaks  in  loftiest  language,  or  sings  in 
harmonious  strains,  the  thoughts  of  his  people;  but 
which  they  know  not  how  to  utter.  Thus  the  true 
poet  becomes  the  true  voice  of  the  nation.  Thus 
the  universal  poet  becomes  the  voice  of  humanity. 


106  SERMONS   ON   THE    CHRISTIAN   LIFE. 

We  will  not  let  the  name  of  Shakespeare  die;  just 
because,  in  fittest  words,  he  tells  us  what  we  our- 
selves have  thought  or  felt,  but  which,  try  how  we 
might,  we  did  not  know  how  to  say.    So  did  the  great 
Hebrew  poets.     They  gave  voice  to  the  people's  un- 
uttered  thoughts.     Therefore,  they  found  response  in 
the   people's   hearts.      So,    for    centuries,    have    the 
children  of  Abraham  sung  the  songs  of  Zion;  and 
pored  entranced  over  the  great  drama  of  Job;  and 
repeated  the  lofty  harmonies  of  Isaiah.     And,  I  ask 
you,  is  the  ideal  life,  of  which  these  are  the  poems, 
a  life  in  which  secular  affairs  and  religious  duties 
are  set  in  sharp  contrast?     Is  not  the  highest  prac- 
tical lesson,  taught  in  this  body  of  poetry,  the  lesson, 
that  God  may  be  glorified  in  all  life,  and  is  glorified 
even  by  the  inorganic  world  in  its  ordinary  move- 
ments ?     It  is  a  Hebrew  poet,  who  tells  of  day  utter- 
ing speech  to  day,  and  of  night  showing  to  night  the 
glory  of  God.     It  is  a  Hebrew  poet,  whose  spiritual 
vision  so  clearly  discerns  the  power  of  lifeless  matter 
to  worship  the  Most  High,  that  he  sings:  "Praise  the 
Lord,  ye  sun  and  moon;  praise  Him,  all  ye  stars  of 
light.     Praise  Him,  ye  heaven  of  heavens,  and  ye 
waters  that  be  above  the  heavens.     Let  them  praise 
the  name  of  the  Lord.     For  His  name  alone  is  ex- 
cellent.    His  glory  is  above  the  earth  and  heaven." 
This  is  the  religion,  of  which  we  are  the  heirs. 
Nay,  this  is  the  religious  thought,  on  which  we  have 
advanced.     And  if  it  was  easy  for  them  to  associate 
religious  thoughts  even  with  the  stars;  if  their  re- 
ligious life  not  only  permeated  their  daily  careers, 
and  gave  tone  and  purpose  to  their  secular  life;  but 
also  sanctified,  as  they  beheld  them,  the  movements 
even  of  unconscious  nature, — ought  it  to  be  an  un- 
heard of  or  an   unusual   attainment  among  us,  to 


THE    SANCTIFICATION    OF    THE    SECULAR   LIFE.       107 

achieve  a  mental  habit  so  spiritual,  that  our  daily 
life  will  be  sanctified;  and  that,  whether  we  eat  or 
drink,  or  whatever  we  do,  we  shall  do  all  to  the 
glory  of  God. 

But,  turning  from  the  Old  to  the  New  Testament, 
let  us  observe  the  light,  thrown  on  this  subject  by 
the  life  of  Jesus  Christ.  Not  less  clearly  than  our 
Redeemer,  is  Jesus  presented  in  the  New  Testa- 
ment as  our  example.  That  we  might  possess  an 
ideal,  as  well  as  a  Saviour,  He  took  upon  Him  our 
form,  and  lived  a  human  life.  We  all  confess  his 
spiritual  perfection.  No  taint  of  sin  defiles  Him. 
What  piety  and  virtue !  What  intimacy  of  com- 
munion with  God !  What  submission  to  his  provi- 
dential will !  How  untiring  his  benevolence  !  How 
tender  his  compassion  !  How  self-sacrificing  his  love 
for  men!  "This  is  a  character  beyond  human  con- 
ception." Man  could  not  have  invented  it.  It  must 
have  been  real.  It  is  the  revelation  of  God,  to  men, 
of  the  perfect  human  life.  You  and  I,  at  least,  have 
accepted  Him  as  our  example.  We  profess  to  fol- 
low Him.  We  have  called  ourselves  by  his  name. 
And,  looking  over  the  New  Testament,  we  find  that 
this  imitation  of  Jesus  is  the  great  demand  every- 
where made  upon  us.  His  own  words  are:  "Deny 
yourselves,  and  take  up  your  cross  and  follow  me." 
And  throughout  the  Epistles,  we  meet  with  state- 
ments like  the  statement:  "If  any  man  have  not  the 
Spirit  of  Christ,  he  is  none  of  his;"  and  with  exhor- 
tations such  as:  "Let  the  mind  be  in  you  which  was 
also  in  Him." 

Now  it  is  obvious,  that  if  Jesus  glorified  God  at 
all,  He  must  have  glorified  God  in  secular  affairs ;  in 
eating  and  drinking ;  in  a  career  of  ordinary  and 
constant  intercourse  with  the  world.     For  Jesus  of 


108  SERMONS    ON    THE    CHRISTIAN    LIFE. 

Nazareth  lived  a  secular  life,  just  as  you  and  I  live 
secular  lives.  You  will  recall  the  fact,  that  He 
asserts  this  of  Himself,  when  contrasting  his  career 
with  that  of  his  great  forerunner.  "John,"  he  says, 
"came  neither  eating  nor  drinking.  The  Son  of 
man  came  eating  and  drinking."  Were  John  the 
Baptist  held  forth  as  our  example  in  the  New  Tes- 
tament, we  may  he  sure,  that  we  would  have  pressed 
upon  us  no  exhortation  like  the  text.  John  was 
ascetic.  He  lived  apart  from  men,  in  the  desert.  He 
appeared  among  them,  clothed  in  strange  garb,  and 
uttering  the  voice  of  solemn  preparation  for  the  ad- 
vent of  the  Son  of  man.  His  message  delivered,  he 
sought  the  unpeopled  wastes,  until  the  Spirit  again 
impelled  him,  suddenly  to  cry  in  the  populous  valley 
of  the  Jordan:  "Repent,  for  the  kingdom  of  heaven 
is  at  hand."  How  sharp  a  contrast  this,  to  the  life 
of  our  great  Example !  He,  like  John,  comes  from 
the  wilderness  to  his  work;  but  the  wilderness  has 
not  been  his  abode.  And  when  He  comes,  almost 
his  first  act,  it  would  seem,  is  to  attend  as  a  guest  a 
marriage  feast;  and  his  first  miracle  is  performed, 
in  order  to  enhance  the  joy  of  his  fellow-guests, 
by  turning  the  water  into  wine.  Like  John,  He 
begins  his  ministry  among  a  busy  population.  But, 
unlike  John,  He  makes  the  city  in  which  He  preaches 
his  home.  The  life  of  Jesus,  even  during  his  public 
ministry,  was  crowded  with  secular  duties  and  asso- 
ciations. Nor  let  us  forget,  how  small  a  portion  of 
his  life  was  taken  up,  in  prosecuting  this  public  min- 
istry as  a  teacher  of  religion.  Only  three  out  of 
thirty-three  years.  During  the  remaining  thirty,  He 
lived,  in  the  city  of  his  reputed  father,  an  ordinary 
human  life.  He  was  a  Galilean  villager.  He  grew 
in  stature.     He  increased  in  wisdom.     Year  by  year 


THE    SANCTIFICATION    OF    THE    SECULAR   LIFE.       109 

his  character  matured;  and,  discovering  itself  to 
those  about  Him,  He  increased  in  favor  with  man  as 
with  God.  He  was  the  carpenter's  son,  and  was  sub- 
ject to  his  father.  He  labored  at  his  father's  trade. 
Such  was  the  life  of  our  great  Example;  of  the  only 
man  who,  in  all  things,  did  his  Father's  will.  Here 
is  no  separation,  in  interest  or  in  actual  life,  from 
worldly  affairs;  no  exclusive  pietism;  no  rapture  too 
unworldly  for  the  work;  no  gloomy  asceticism.  In 
its  external  incidents,  the  life  of  Jesus,  for  thirty 
years,  was  as  commonplace  as  that  of  any  man  or 
woman  before  me.  But  his  purity,  his  benignity, 
his  obedience,  his  gentleness,  his  integrity,  his  self- 
sacrificing  love,  transfigured  it.  Each  daily  duty,  as 
done  by  Him,  became,  through  his  love  of  God  and 
men,  an  act  of  worship.  And  whether  He  ate  and 
drank  at  a  marriage  feast,  or  labored  in  his  father's 
work-shop,  or  played  with  his  companions,  or  ad- 
dressed his  disciples  on  the  loftiest  themes,  or  wrought 
miracles,  or  consented  to  the  death  of  the  cross, — 
He  did  all  to  the  glory  of  the  Most  High  God.  His 
career  was  a  continuous  psalm  of  adoration  and  of 
praise.  Do  you  wonder,  therefore,  that  one  of  his 
Apostles,  with  the  record  of  this  life  before  him,  with 
the  revelation  of  its  acceptance  by  God,  as  the  one 
perfect  life  ever  lived — do  you  wonder,  I  say,  that 
this  Apostle  should  count  it  not  impossible,  that  a 
disciple  should  sanctify  even  the  most  common  and 
secular  elements  of  life;  and  that,  in  writing  to  a  com- 
pany of  believers,  he  should  say:  "Whether,  there- 
fore, ye  eat  or  drink,  or  whatsoever  ye  do,  do  all  to 
the  glory  of  God"? 

You  see,  therefore,  that  the  Old  Testament  and  the 
New  unite,  in  proclaiming  it  to  be  both  our  duty  and 
our  privilege,  so  to  consecrate  to  God  our  whole  week- 


110  SERMONS    ON    THE    CHRISTIAN    LIFE. 

day  life — including  even  the  mere  physical  acts  of  eat- 
ing and  drinking — that  all  shall  contribute  to  the 
glory  of  God;  so  to  make  all  sacred,  that,  in  money- 
getting,  and  pleasure-seeking,  and  in  the  various 
rounds  of  household  duties,  we  shall  honor  and  wor- 
ship Him,  who  has  called  us  to  the  dignity  of  sons 
and  daughters  of  the  Most  High. 

II.  Having  thus  seen  the  possibility  of  obeying  the 
Apostle's  injunction;  having  seen,  indeed,  that  just 
such  a  life,  as  that  which  the  injunction  calls  before 
us,  is  contemplated  by  the  sacred  books  of  both  dis- 
pensations; we  are  prepared  to  answer  the  question, 
how  shall  we  go  about  sanctifying  this  secular  life? 
What  methods  shall  we  adopt,  what  helps  shall  we 
make  use  of? 

In  replying  to  this  question,  I  ask  you,  first,  to 
observe,  how  much  may  be  done  by  us  to  sanctify 
our  secular  life  by  that  habit  of  mind  which  we  call 
association.  You  all  know,  that  when  an  event 
occurs,  which  takes  strong  hold  of  our  feelings, 
every  other  event  seems  to  us  altered  by  it;  and 
every  physical  object  wears  a  changed  aspect.  In- 
stinctively, we  associate  every  thing  else  with  the 
one  all-controlling  occurrence.  Do  you  not  recall, 
how  different  nature  appeared  to  you,  during  the 
first  few  days  after  you  felt  the  shock  of  a  sore  be- 
reavement? The  sun,  the  sky,  the  trees  all  associated 
themselves  in  your  mind  with  your  terrible  loss,  and 
in  some  way  seemed  to  sympathize  with,  or  to  add 
to  your  woe.  The  Poet  Laureate  of  England  but 
speaks  the  feelings  of  humanity,  when  he  calls  the 
death  of  a  loved  and  admired  friend — 

"  that  reverse  of  doom 
Which  sickened  every  living  bloom 
And  blurred  the  splendor  of  the  sun." 


THE    SANCTIFICATION    OF    THE    SECULAR   LIFE.      Ill 

And  in  describing  his  own,  he  describes  our  associa- 
tion of  nature  with  our  grief,  when  he  writes : 

"With  weary  steps  I  loiter  on, 
Though  always  under  altered  skies, 
The  purple  from  the  distance  dies, 
The  prospect  and  horizon  gone." 

Do  I  speak  of  an  unheard  of,  or  even  an  unusual 
occurrence,  when  I  tell  you  of  a  mother,  who  at  an 
hour,  when  she  will  not  be  disturbed,  goes  to  her 
room,  and  takes  from  its  secure  hiding  place,  per- 
haps, a  lock  of  hair,  or  a  pair  of  half-worn  shoes,  or 
a  little  child's  dress ;  some  object  in  itself  trivial  or 
valueless;  over  which  she  pores,  as  though  it  were 
gold  or  a  precious  stone.  It  has  power  to  break  up 
the  deep  fountains  of  feeling,  and  to  call  forth  tears 
and  prayers.  The  trivial  or  valueless  object  belonged 
to  a  lost  or  long  absent  child;  and  its  power  over 
the  mother  is  an  example  of  the  power  of  the  mind, 
in  the  act  of  association,  to  sanctify  the  most  com- 
monplace objects  or  events. 

Every  Christian  parent,  I  dare  say,  recognizes  this 
instinct  of  association,  as  a  fact  not  to  be  disregarded 
in  the  training  of  children.  You  warn  your  child 
against  this  or  that  habit,  not  because,  in  itself,  it 
is  morally  wrong,  but  because  its  associations  are 
vicious  or  vulgar.  "  It  is  my  custom,"  said  an  intel- 
ligent Christian  man,  "not  only  to  indulge  my  chil- 
dren in  all  household  recreations,  not  sinful  or  expen- 
sive, but  also  to  join  in  their  games.  And  I  do  this, 
in  order  that,  when  absent  from  home,  at  college  or 
elsewhere,  these  very  recreations  may  be  associated 
with  home,  with  a  father's  care  and  a  mother's  love. 
I  am  sure,  that  this  association  will  both  put  a  re- 
straint upon  indulgence,  and,  at  the  same  time,  en- 


112  SERMONS    ON    THE    CHRISTIAN    LIFE. 

large  the  number  of  objects  which,  when  they  shall 
have  left  it,  will  make  their  image  of  home  a  perpet- 
ual joy." 

These  examples, — and  they  might  be  multiplied  in- 
definitely,— show  us  the  possibility  of  making  our  sec- 
ular life  religious,  by  associating  it  with  God.  Indeed, 
this  association  of  all  things  with  God  is  the  one 
central  and  unchanging  element  of  religion.  Stripped 
of  its  accidents,  and  of  the  elements  which  belong  to 
its  dispensations  rather  than  to  its  essence,  religion, 
on  its  intellectual  side,  is  the  recognition  of  the  liv- 
ing God,  the  first  cause  of  the  universe,  in  all  his 
works.  On  its  active  side,  religion  is  the  determi- 
nation of  all  conduct,  by  the  truth,  that  God  is  the 
final,  as  well  as  the  first  cause,  of  the  universe.  Let 
our  conduct  be  determined  by  this  fundamental 
truth ;  let  all  our  secular  life  be  thus  associated  with 
God;  and  the  prayers  offered  in  our  closets  will  not 
be  more  religious  than  is  the  business  transacted  in 
our  counting-rooms.  This  is  the  truth,  which  George 
Herbert  has  so  finely  expressed  in  his  poem,  called 
the  "  Elixir,"  a  part  of  which,  I  am  sure,  whether 
familiar  with  it  or  not,  you  will  thank  me  for 
repeating : 

Teach  me,  my  God  and  King, 

In  all  things  thee  to  see; 
And  what  I  do  in  anything, 

To  do  it  as  for  thee. 

All  may  of  thee  partake; 

Nothing  can  he  so  mean, 
Which  with  this  tincture,  for  thy  sake, 

Will  not  grow  bright  and  clean. 

A  servant,  with  this  clause, 

Makes  drudgery  divine : 
Who  sweeps  a  room,  as  for  thy  laws, 

Makes  that,  and  the  action,  fine. 


THE    SANCTIFICATION    OF    THE    SECULAR    LIFE.         113 

This  is  the  famous  stone 

That  turneth  all  to  gold; 
For  that,  which  God  doth  touch  and  own, 

Can  not  for  less  be  told. 

The  truth  is,  that  there  is  no  more  inherent  diffi- 
culty iu  making  our  daily  work  the  service  of  God, 
than  there  is  in  making  it  the  service  of  the  family. 
And  just  as  the  association  of  our  labor  with  wife 
and  children  so  dignities  its  drudgery,  that  it  is  no 
longer  drudgery  ;  so  the  association  of  our  labor  with 
God  lifts  it  into  the  realm  of  the  religious  life,  and 
transforms  it  into  worship. 

But  we  can  not,  by  the  mere  exercise  of  the  will, 
habitually  associate  daily  duties  with  God.  The 
mere  volition  will  be  overborne  by  temptations. 
We  must,  therefore,  seize  the  aid  which  God  has 
furnished  us,  in  the  privilege  of  prayer.  If  you  ask 
how  you  can  make  your  secular  life  an  act  of  wor- 
ship; I  answer,  take  your  secular  life  to  God  in  prayer. 
You  can  not  glorify  God  in  eating  and  drinking,  if 
you  do  not  ask  his  direction  in  eating  and  drink- 
ing. On  the  other  hand,  such  prayer,  in  itself  con- 
sidered, and  altogether  apart  from  the  strength  and 
direction  which  it  seeks  from  God,  will  give  to  the 
entire  life  the  character  of  worship.  If  you  are  a 
parent,  engaged  in  training  a  child,  you  will  see,  at 
once,  how  true  this  statement  is.  I  will  suppose  that 
the  intercourse  between  you  and  your  child  is  un- 
restrained; that  the  child  confides  in  you,  and  con- 
fers with  you,  as  to  all  his  plays  and  plans;  that  day 
after  day  he  comes  to  you  to  obtain  your  direction. 
Such  a  life,  on  the  part  of  your  child,  honors  you 
in  all  its  phases.  It  glorifies  you  as  much  in  its 
pleasures,  as  in  its  obedience.  In  this  way,  precisely, 
can  we  make  all  our  work  and  all  our  pleasures,  our 


114  SERMONS    ON    THE    CHRISTIAN   LIFE. 

very  eating  and  drinking  glorify  our  Father.  We 
can  take  them  all  to  Him.  We  can  ask  his  will. 
Ah !  brethren,  I  suppose  that  we  glorify  God,  only 
in  what  we  call  our  "religious  life,"  simply  because 
we  pray  to  Him  about  that  alone.  I  will  show  you 
"  a  more  excellent  way."  Go  to  God  with  your  busi- 
ness cares.  Take  counsel  with  Him  about  your  con- 
duct of  business.  When,  to-morrow  morning,  the 
work  and  anxieties  of  the  week  begin  to  harass 
and  perplex  you,  consult  Him  in  earnest  prayer, 
determining  to  be  guided  by  the  leadings  of  his 
Spirit  and  his  Word.  How  long  a  time  will  be 
required,  to  form  the  habit  of  associating  all  things 
with  God?  But  this,  I  fear,  is  not  our  conduct.  In 
business  and  pleasure,  we  are  not  on  terms  of  con- 
fidential intercourse  with  our  Father  in  heaven. 
If  we  were,  we  should  see  nothing  strange  in  the 
Apostle's  injunction:  "Whether  ye  eat  or  drink,  or 
whatsoever  ye  do,  do  all  to  the  glory  of  God." 

But  this  is  not  all.  If  you  would  glorify  God  in 
secular  affairs,  you  must  test  your  conduct  of  them, 
habitually,  by  the  requirements  of  God's  law.  It  is 
not  enough  that  you  pray.  For  if  you  pray  about 
duty,  God  will,  more  forcibly  than  ever,  remind  you 
of  the  great  law  of  duty,  written  on  your  hearts. 
Now,  there  is  no  stronger  temptation  than  the  temp- 
tation, to  set  up  the  customs  or  the  average  life  of 
the  business  community,  instead  of  God's  law,  as  the 
standard  of  business  life.  How  common  is  the  re- 
mark: "I  propose  to  adjust  my  conduct  in  business, 
not  to  any  unattainable  standard,  like  the  law  of 
God,  but  to  the  average  conduct  of  those  about  me. 
When  one  is  in  Home,  one  must  do  as  Romans  do." 
Well,  brethren,  I  put  the  question:  whom  does  such 
a  state  of  mind  glorify?     God,  or  Rome?     Certainly 


THE    SANCTIFICATION    OF    THE    SECULAR    LIFE.      115 

not  God.  But  let  me  suppose  a  man,  after  careful 
consideration  and  prayer,  to  say :  "  I  may  often  yield 
to  temptation;  but  I  am  resolved, come  what  will,  in 
all  things,  to  make  the  dietates  of  conscience,  and  the 
revealed  will  of  God  my  rule  of  life."  Such  a  man 
may  often  be  overborne  by  his  lower  nature ;  but  his 
religion  will,  at  least,  be  no  mere  "Sunday  habit;" 
it  will  be  a  spiritual  force,  permeating  and  enno- 
bling his  whole  being.  His  eating  and  drinking  will 
be  the  worship  of  God. 

Let  me  add  only,  that  if  you  would  glorify  God  in 
your  secular  life,  you  must  keep  in  view,  constantly, 
the  truth  that  Christ  died  to  redeem  it;  to  sanctify 
and  glorify  it.  At  last,  not  merely  the  spiritual  ele- 
ment of  our  personality  will  be  saved.  Our  bodily 
life, — with  all  which  that  imports, — will  be  rescued 
from  the  great  destroyer,  and  death  will  be  swallowed 
up  in  victory.  Nay,  this  world  itself,  it  would  seem, 
will  be  renewed  by  the  refining  fires,  which  God  has 
appointed;  and  the  curse,  now  on  it,  be  removed. 
Doubt  not,  that  a  secular  life  will  then  be  lived. 
Though  we  can  not  describe  or  conceive  of  it,  yet 
this  is  implied  in  the  statement,  that  the  body  and 
this  world  will  be  redeemed.  It  becomes  us,  dear 
Christian  brethren,  so  far  as  may  be,  to  anticipate 
that  final  life  even  now,  by  consecrating  all  work 
and  all  pleasure  to  the  redeeming  God. 

And  now,  in  view  of  the  possibility  of  glorifying 
God  in  daily  life,  let  us  examine  our  lives.  Let  us 
bring  to  the  examination  another  truth  of  the  most 
solemn  character.  If  we  fail  to  sanctify  our  secular 
life,  we  shall  certainly  secularize  our  religious  life. 
This  is  the  alternative  before  us.  Two  powers  are 
in  strife  for  the  mastery  of  our  whole  being.  One 
is  the  spirit  of  Christ;  the  other  is  the  spirit  of  the 


116  SERMONS    ON    THE    CHRISTIAN   LIFE. 

world.  One  or  the  other  must  conquer  us,  and,  by 
the  conquest,  must  determine  the  character  of  every 
act  of  our  lives.  If,  at  last,  we  shall  be  possessed 
by  the  spirit  of  Christ,  "whether  we  eat  or  drink, 
or  whatsoever  we  do,  we  shall  do  all  to  the  glory 
of  God."  But  if  we  shall  be  possessed  by  the  spirit 
of  the  world,  religious  activity,  in  any  true  sense 
of  that  phrase,  will  be  impossible.  There  may  be 
the  excitement  of  constitutional  sensibilities;  but  re- 
ligious character  will  be  wanting.  There  may  be 
the  appearance  of  religious  activity;  but  this  ap- 
pearance, though  not  perhaps  a  pretense,  will  be 
an  appearance  only.  Of  the  activity  of  a  religious 
spirit,  there  will  be  none.  For  the  essence  of  re- 
ligion is  the  love  of  God.  But  the  spirit  of  the 
world  will  be  our  spirit.  And,  "if  any  man  love 
the  world,  the  love  of  the  Father  is  not  in  him." 

In  conclusion,  let  me  say,  that  the  injunction  was 
addressed  to  Christians,  and  implies  a  union  to  Christ 
by  faith.  And  this  suggests  the  statement,  that  so 
long  as  a  man  is  separated  from  Christ,  so  long  is 
it  impossible  for  him  to  glorify  God.  If  through 
Him,  we  do  not  rise  above  this  material  life,  and 
compel  it,  as  the  servant  of  our  free  and  redeemed 
spirits,  to  glorify  God,  we  must  become  its  slaves. 
The  slaves  of  business,  of  money,  of  eating  and 
drinking!  There  is  no  other  alternative.  And,  as 
its  slaves,  our  hopes  and  ambitions  will  grow  more 
earthly,  until,  at  last,  all  our  interests  will  be  bounded 
by  the  term  of  our  present  life;  and  we  shall  see  in 
death  only  a  tyrant,  who  robs  us  of  all  our  enjoy- 
ments. From  this  narrow  earthliness  the  Gospel 
comes  to  free  us  all.  And  this  it  does,  through 
Christ  alone. 


Yin. 

THE  GOSPEL  A  HOPE. 

"Blessed  be  the  God  and  Father  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ, 
which  according  to  his  abundant  mercy  hath  begotten  us  again 
unto  a  lively  hope  by  the  resurrection  of  Jesus  Christ  from 
the  dead,  to  an  inheritance  incorruptible,  and  undefiled,  and 
that  fadeth  not  away,  reserved  in  heaven  for  you,  who  are 
kept  by  the  power  of  God  through  faith  unto  salvation  ready 
to  be  revealed  in  the  last  time.'' — I.  Peter  i,  3,  4,  5. 

The  text  is  the  Apostle  Peter's  ascription  of  thanks- 
giving to  God  for  the  Gospel  of  his  Son  ;  an  ascrip- 
tion in  which  he  describes  the  Gospel  with  singular 
felicity  and  power.  It  is  to  Peter's  description  of 
the  Gospel;  to  his  description  of  our  religion,  that 
I  ask  your  attention  this  morning. 

A  description  of  Christianity,  by  such  a  man,  can 
not  fail  to  prove  an  instructive  study.  There  are 
unnumbered  definitions  of  Christianity,  to  be  found 
in  religious  and  general  literature;  written,  some  by 
friends,  and  others  by  enemies;  definitions  by  pro- 
fessedly neutral  historians,  by  friendly  theologians,  by 
hostile  critics,  by  litterateurs.  Their  very  multitude 
has  produced  confusion  in  many  minds.  Possibly, 
they  have  produced  in  your  minds  such  confusion, 
that,  if  you   were   asked   the   question :   "  What   is 

(117) 


118  SERMONS    ON    THE    CHRISTIAN    LIFE. 

Christianity?"  you  might  be  startled  by  your  own 
inability,  satisfactorily  to  answer  it.  May  we  not, 
therefore,  at  least  hope  to  clarify  our  own  minds 
in  respect  to  this  question,  by  adverting  to  this  de- 
scription of  the  Gospel;  written  by  a  man,  who 
was  one  of  the  earliest  and  one  of  the  most  trusted 
disciples  of  Jesus;  who  was  probably  at  his  bap- 
tism; who  heard  his  Sermon  on  the  Mount;  who 
listened  to  his  last  discourse;  who  saw  the  Transfig- 
uration ;  who  was  present  during  a  portion  of  his  last 
trial;  who,  first  of  all,  entered  his  emptied  tomb; 
who  saw  Him  ascend  to  heaven;  who  gave  his  life 
to  the  propagation  of  the  faith  of  Christ;  who  sealed 
his  devotion  to  his  Redeemer  by  a  painful  death;  and 
who  is  honored  by  the  largest,  if  not  the  purest,  of 
the  Churches  of  Christendom,  as  the  Primate  of  the 
Apostles,  on  whom  Christ  founded  the  Church,  of 
which  he  prophesied,  that  the  gates  of  hell  should 
not  prevail  against  it.  Surely,  brethren,  we  may 
give  very  appropriately  this  morning's  hour  to  an- 
swering the  question,  in  the  light  of  this  thanks- 
giving: what  was  the  Gospel  of  Christ,  as  appre- 
hended by  this  great  Apostle  Peter? 

I.  And  first,  you  will  notice,  that  it  existed  in  his 
mind  as,  and  exerted  upon  his  life  the  power  of  a 
living  hope.  "  Blessed  be  the  God  and  Father  of  our 
Lord  Jesus  Christ,  who  hath  begotten  us  again  unto 
a  lively  hope." 

Whatever  we  shall  find,  in  our  study  of  the  text, 
to  be  the  object  of  this  hope,  it  is  important,  I 
think,  that  we  seize,  at  once,  the  great  truth,  that 
Christianity,  as  understood  by  Peter,  was  not  a  sys- 
tem of  burdensome  duties.  If  hope  is  the  word  that 
best  characterizes  the  Gospel,  a  good  many  popular 
mistakes  have  been  made  in  respect  to  it.     We  can 


THE    GOSPEL    A    HOPE.  119 

imagine,  with  what  astonishment,  with  what  in- 
dignation, indeed,  this  man — who  of  all  men  had  a 
right  to  an  opinion  on  the  subject — would  have  read, 
that  "  Christianity  is  a  system  of  repression ;  that  the 
voice  of  the  pulpit  is  a  whine;  that  its  psalm  is  a 
miserere."  The  truth  is,  that,  in  the  days  of  Peter, 
the  one  thing,  that  was  not  enchained  by  the  giant 
Despair,  was  the  Church  of  Jesus  Christ.  I  have 
often  directed  your  attention  to  the  state  of  society, 
when  the  Apostles,  dispersed  by  the  persecutions  of 
the  Jews,  carried  the  Gospel  throughout  the  Roman 
Empire.  Let  me  recall  it  to  your  attention.  A  great 
living  classical  and  Biblical  scholar  has  said,  that, 
"to  see  the  world  in  its  worst  estate,  we  must  turn 
to  the  age  of  Juvenal  and  Tacitus — the  age,  also,  of 
Peter  and  Paul — when  all  the  different  streams  of 
evil,  coming  from  east,  west,  north,  and  south,  the 
vices  of  barbarism  and  the  vices  of  civilization,  rem- 
nants of  ancient  cults,  and  the  latest  refinements  of 
luxury  and  impurity,  met  and  mingled  on  the  banks 
of  the  Tiber."  It  was  the  age,  in  which  Nero  reigned, 
and  perished 

by  the  justest  doom 
Which    ever  the  destroyer    yet  destroyed. 

It  was  the  age  in  which  slavery  was  most  widely 
spread,  in  the  worst  form  in  which  slavery  can  ex- 
ist. It  was  the  age  whose  vices,  as  satirized  by  Juve- 
nal and  described  by  Tacitus,  I  dare  not  even  name 
before  a  Christian  congregation.  It  was  a  worse  age 
than  the  age  which  immediately  preceded  it;  the  age 
constituted  by  the  decline  of  the  Republic.  And,  de- 
scribing this  better  age,  Sallust  tells  us,  that  "lust  of 
licentiousness,  of  low  debauchery,  and  of  every  sort 
of  luxury  spread  abroad.     Men  and  women  publicly 


120  SERMONS    ON    THE    CHRISTIAN    LIFE. 

offered  their  chastity  for  sale.  For  the  sake  of  filling 
themselves  with  food,  they  sought  all  things  by  land 
and  sea;  they  slept  before  any  desire  for  food  had 
come;  they  waited  neither  for  hunger,  thirst,  desire 
of  coolness,  nor  for  weariness;  but  anticipated  all 
in  their  luxurious  indulgence.  The  spirit  steeped  in 
evil  arts  did  not  easily  restrain  itself  from  any  lusts; 
it  was  only  more  prodigally  devoted,  in  all  ways,  to 
venal  advantage  and  to  extravagance."  * 

"What  could  such  a  state  of  society  produce,  except 
despair?  What,  after  vice  had  wrought  satiety,  and 
debauchery  had  been  succeeded  by  reflection,  could 
men  forbode  but  utter  destruction  ?  And  they  did. 
Murders  were  equaled  in  number  only  by  suicides. 
And  suicide  was  the  loftiest  act  that  lofty  man  could 
perform.  The  best  men  were  the  Stoic  nobles. 
And  the  Stoic  nobles  could  only  "wrap  their  cloaks 
around  them,"  or  seek,  in  self-inflicted  death,  sepa- 
ration from  the  awful  impurity  they  were  utterly 
powerless  to  remove. 

In  this  gross  darkness,  the  only  ray  of  light  shone 
from  the  hill  of  Calvary.  Amid  riot  and  orgy,  of 
which  the  expected  end  was  an  awful  doom,  the  only 
voice  of  hope  was  the  voice  of  the  Gospel  of  Christ. 
But  just  this  it  was  to  men  surrounded  by  or  sunken 
in  this  terrible  sinfulness.  It  was  as  a  hope,  that  the 
Gospel  was  preached  throughout  the  Empire.  It 
called  the  victim  of  hard  and  dry  remorse,  to  pour 

*"The  Conspiracy  of  Catiline,"  Sec.  XIII.  I  quote  above 
the  translation  of  Dr.  R.  S.  Storrs:  Appendix  to  Lect.  VIII, 
"  Divine  Origin  of  Christianity."  But  worse  than  the  vices  and 
ciimes  to  which  Sallust  thus  refers,  was  the  perversion  of  the 
moral  judgments  which  attended  them.  Roman  society  had 
earned  the  woe,  denounced  on  those  who  "call  evil  good  and 
good  evil."  "Righteousness,"  says  Sallust  (Sec.  XII),  "was 
held  to  be  malice."     Innocentia  pro  malevolentia  duci  coepit. 


THE    GOSPEL   A   HOPE.  121 

forth  tears  of  hopeful  penitence.  It  bade  the  man, 
bent  on  suicide  as  his  only  escape,  fling  away  his 
sword  and  gaze  into  the  opened  heavens.  It  called 
on  the  Jew,  mourning  over  the  destruction  of  Zion 
and  the  desolation  of  the  Holy  of  Holies,  to  behold 
his  Messiah.  Its  message  to  all  the  children  of  men, 
dead  in  trespasses  and  sins,  was:  "Ye  may  be  born 
again."  Thus  the  Gospel  was  apprehended  by  Peter. 
Thus  he  preached  it,  and  explained  it  in  his  letters 
to  the  Churches.  Because  it  was  a  hope,  he  suffered 
for  it,  and  died  its  witness  on  the  cross.  And,  there- 
fore, in  this  Epistle,  thanking  God  for  the  Gospel 
of  his  Son,  he  so  describes  it.  "  Blessed  be  the  God 
and  Father  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  which  accord- 
ing to  his  abundant  mercy  hath  begotten  us  again 
unto  a  living  hope." 

And,  brethren,  this  description  of  the  Gospel  has 
lost  none  of  its  force  and  none  of  its  pertinence  by 
the  lapse  of  eighteen  centuries.  It  is  a  hope  to-day. 
It  is  not  a  system  of  duties.  It  is  not  a  series  of 
burdens.  It  is  not  a  collection  of  ceremonies.  It  is 
not,  in  its  ultimate  form,  even  a  system  of  doctrine. 
Above  all,  it  is  the  dawning  of  a  new  light  on  the 
horizon  of  the  world.  It  is  a  voice  of  hope,  to  such 
as  sit  in  darkness  and  the  shadow  of  death.  For  is 
it  not  true,  that,  though  we  are  not  sunk  into  the 
depths  of  vice,  in  which  society  then  lay,  despair  as 
to  the  ultimate  condition  of  man  is  the  dominant 
feeling,  alike  of  literature,  of  science,  and  of  con- 
science? You  have  read  the  current  literature  to 
little  purpose,  if  you  have  not  observed,  that  its 
voice,  uttered  through  those  best  inspired,  yet  not 
inspired  by  the  Gospel,  is  one  of  lamentation  over 
man's  soul.  Philosophy,  that  is  not  determined  by 
the  Gospel,  is  just  as  dark  and  dreary.     And  sci- 


122  SERMONS    ON    THE    CHRISTIAN   LIFE. 

ence,  with  its  latest  generalization  ; — the  remorseless 
destruction  of  masses,  that  the  few  fittest  may  sur- 
vive— what  is  this  but  the  very  gospel  of  despair? 
And  then  when  you  listen,  if  you  dare  to  do  so,  to 
the  voice  of  your  own  conscience,  what  do  you,  what 
can  you  hear,  but  the  foreboding  of  utter  misery  ? 

I  say,  then,  that  this  description  of  the  Gospel  has 
lost  none  of  its  force  and  none  of  its  pertinence.  If 
it  ought  to  be  preached  to-day  at  all,  it  ought  to  be 
preached,  above  all  else,  because  it  is  a  voice  of  hope 
sounded  in  the  ears  of  despairing  men;  and  the 
Doxology  that  should  be  heard,  above  all  others,  in 
the  Church  of  Christ,  is  the  thanksgiving  of  Peter: 
"  Blessed  be  the  God  and  Father  of  our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ,  which  of  his  abundant  mercy  hath  begotten 
us  again  unto  a  living  hope." 

II.  But  Peter  not  only  describes  the  Gospel  as  a 
hope ;  he  brings  into  view,  also,  the  ground  on  which 
it  is  based;  and  that  ground  is  the  abounding  mercy 
of  God.  "  Blessed  be  the  God  and  Father  of  our 
Lord  Jesus  Christ,  which,  according  to  his  abundant 
mercy,  hath  begotten  us."  What  does  the  Apostle 
mean,  by  the  mercy  of  God  being  the  ground  of 
man's  hope? 

I  answer,  that,  as  we  look  around  us  on  nature, 
we  see  that  we  are  subjects  of  a  government  which 
lives  and  moves  and  has  its  being  by  law;  law  that 
is  everywhere  operative;  law  that  is  uniform  in  its 
movements.  Now,  it  is  characteristic  of  law,  that  it 
is  no  respecter  of  persons.  It  never  asks,  what  pal- 
liating circumstances  may  be  connected  with  a  single 
violation  of  it.  It  moves  with  resistless  and  un- 
heeding progress,  from  the  violation  of  command  to 
the  enforcement  of  penalty.  It  refuses  to  take  into 
consideration,   station,   or   age,  or  ignorance.     Fire 


THE    GOSPEL    A    HOPE.  123 

will  not  burn  the  less,  because  it  is  an  unthink- 
ing child,  that  has  been  caught  within  the  circum- 
ference of  the  flame.  An  earthquake  will  not  pause 
to  permit  the  better  classes  to  escape.  Law  has  no 
respect  for  individuals.  It  asks  alone,  has  precept 
been  transgressed?  And,  if  this  is  true  of  the  law 
whose  domain  is  the  physical  universe;  not  less  is 
it  true  of  that  moral  law,  whose  subjects  are  the 
responsible  spirits  of  men.  It,  also,  is  relentless.  It 
is  uncompromising.  It  holds  the  least  transgressor 
guilty.  It  holds  him  guilty  of  the  violation  of  the 
whole  law.  It  visits  upon  him  the  entire  penalty. 
Protest  and  quarrel  as  we  may,  this  is  the  system  un- 
der which  man  lives;  this  is  the  government  which 
nature  reveals;  this  is  the  law,  whose  precepts  con- 
science announces,  and  whose  sauction  it  threatens 
in  tones  of  thunder.  Men  are  transgressors,  and 
therefore  they  are  in  despair.  Therefore,  they  raise 
their  voices  to  heavens,  which  are  "resonant  only 
with  the  echoes  of  their  unavailing  cries.''  There- 
fore, they  cry  in  despair:  "How  shall  man  be  just 
with  God?"  Therefore,  they  complain  that  God  is  a 
God,  hidden  back  of  a  system  of  remorseless  law, 
which  He  has  substituted  for  Himself,  and  which 
will  not  regard  the  individuals  that  are  enfolded  in 
its  iron  and  remorseless  embrace. 

Now,  the  mercy  of  God  consists  in  his  breaking 
through  the  environment  of  this  system  of  law,  and 
appearing  to  individual  man ;  in  his  willingness  to 
listen  to  his  cry;  in  his  desire  and  design  to  interfere, 
and  prevent  the  crushing  movement  of  this  awful  sys- 
tem on  those  who  have  insulted  its  majesty.  Hence, 
the  proper  antithesis  of  the  mercy  of  God  is  the  law 
of  God.  Law  does  not  regard  individuals.  Mercy 
does.     It  hears  prayer.    It  takes  into  account  special 


124  SERMONS   ON   THE    CHRISTIAN    LIFE. 

circumstances.  It  intervenes.  It  comes  between 
precept  and  penalty.  It  mediates.  It  restores.  It 
saves.  Law  is  the  expression  of  the  hidden  God. 
Mercy  is  the  expression  of  God,  no  longer  hidden  in 
the  clouds  which  He  makes  his  pavilion,  but  break- 
ing through  them,  and  coming  over  the  mountains 
of  man's  transgression  to  his  succor  and  salvation. 
And  the  Gospel,  in  Peter's  view,  was  a  Gospel  of 
hope,  because  it  was  grounded  on  the  truth,  that 
back  of  relentless  law,  and  ready  to  come  forth  at 
the  cry  of  the  least  of  his  human  creatures,  is  the 
loving  and  redeeming  God.  And  this,  friends,  is  the 
Gospel  to-day.  It  is  hope  grounded  on  the  mercy  of 
God.  It  is  the  love  of  God,  above  the  law  of  the 
universe.  It  is  a  living  hope,  springing  forth  out 
of  the  truth,  that  on  the  throne  of  the  universe  is  a 
heart  throbbing  with  infinite  love,  and  ready  to 
move  to  each  single  soul,  however  sinful,  in  offices 
of  sympathy  and  redemption. 

III.  But  men  might  have  said  to  Peter:  "A  great, 
an  unspeakable  benediction  is  such  a  hope  as  this,  and 
a  better  ground  on  which  to  rest  it,  than  this  mercy 
there  can  not  be,  if  indeed  there  be  such  a  mercy. 
But  what  is  the  'pledge  of  it?  What  pledge  is  there, 
that  God  will  thus  come  forth  through  the  meshes 
of  his  law  to  succor  the  children  of  men  ?"  And, 
Peter,  therefore,  in  his  description  of  the  Gospel, 
states  not  the  hope  only,  and  the  ground  of  it,  but 
the  pledge,  also,  that  this  ground  is  a  real  and  a  safe 
ground.  And  this  pledge  is  none  other  than  a  his- 
toric event;  an  event  in  which  God  did  come  forth, 
and  in  which  He  triumphed  over  the  mightiest  of 
visible  laws,  the  law  of  death  itself.  "Blessed  be 
God  who,  out  of  his  abundant  mercy,  hath  begotten 
us  unto  a  living  hope,  by  the  resurrection  of  Jesus 


THE   GOSPEL   A   HOPE.  125 

Christ  from  the  dead."  The  "resurrection  of  Christ 
from  the  dead !"  This  is  the  pledge  which  Peter  of- 
fers, that  the  ground  of  man's  hope  is  real  and  safe. 

We  are  sometimes  at  a  loss  to  find  the  precise 
place,  which  belongs  to  the  resurrection  of  our  Lord 
in  a  systematic  statement  of  God's  way  of  redemp- 
tion. It  does  not  justify  us,  as  his  obedience  does. 
It  does  not  sanctify  us,  as  the  promised  Spirit  docs. 
It  lies  between  the  two  great  parts  of  redemption, 
apparently  belonging  to  neither,  and  having  part  in 
neither.  It  was  when  Christ  died,  that  He  said:  "It 
is  finished."  And  it  was  when  the  Spirit  came,  that 
the  work  of  sanctifying  the  world  began.  And  yet, 
throughout  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles,  we  read  con- 
tinually that  the  Apostles  went  throughout  the  Em- 
pire, preaching  "Jesus  and  the  resurrection."  And 
when  a  Roman  ruler  speaks  to  another  ruler,  of  an 
accusation  brought  against  one  of  these  Apostles,  we 
find  the  burden  of  the  charge  against  him  to  be  his 
declaration  concerning  "one  Jesus,  which  was  dead, 
but  whom  Paul  declared  to  be  alive." 

What  is  the  meaning  of  this  continuous  emphasis? 
What,  but  that  the  resurrection  of  Jesus  is  the 
pledge  of  the  reality  of  all  that  has  occurred  before 
it.  Peter  journeys  throughout  the  world,  telling  men 
that  God  is  a  God  of  mercy;  that  He  is  ready  to  for- 
give; that  He  will  listen  to  prayer;  that  He  will  give 
to  individual  men  and  women  power  to  overcome 
sin ;  that  He  will  bless  them  with  everlasting  glory. 
"Yes,"  they  might  answer:  "Beautiful  beyond  our 
imagining  is  the  Gospel  that  you  preach.  Better  than 
the  golden  age,  would  this  age  be,  if  that  were  true. 
What  is  the  pledge  you  offer  us,  that  there  is  such  a 
God,  above  the  just  but  awful  law,  that  now  holds  us 
to  despair  and  foreboding?"     And  Peter's  answer  is, 


126  SERMONS    ON    THE    CHRISTIAN    LIFE. 

that,  already,  has  the  Omnipotent  One  come  forth 
from  his  hiding  place,  and  told  men  of  his  love  and 
readiness  to  help  their  infirmities;  and,  that  they 
might  know  that  the  voice  is  indeed  the  voice  of 
the  Almighty  One,  He  rent  the  rocks;  and  broke 
the  seal  of  the  Empire;  and  called  forth  from  the 
grave  his  own  Messenger,  whom  men  had  crucified 
and  slain. 

And  this — not  that  there  are  not  other  pledges,  like 
the  witness  of  the  Spirit — is  one  great  pledge  that 
we  offer  to-day.  God  is  a  God  of  mercy.  He  is 
not  bound  by  his  physical  laws  which  deal  with 
classes  only.  He  can  and  will  overcome  them  for 
you,  if  you  but  look  to  Him  and  cry  to  Him  for  help. 
And,  for  pledge  and  evidence,  we  point  you  to  the 
emptied  tomb  of  Joseph,  and  the  pierced  hands  and 
feet  and  side  of  the  risen  and  glorified  Jesus;  and 
bid  you  hear  his  words :  "  Peace  be  unto  you ;"  and 
watch  Him  as  He  ascends  from  Olivet  to  heaven. 
Thus  it  is,  that  the  Church,  testifying  in  all  ages  to 
the  reality  of  this  event,  keeps  sacred  this  first  day 
of  the  week;  and  raises  in  her  temples  the  ascription 
of  thanksgiving :  "  Blessed  be  the  God  and  Father 
of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  who,  of  his  abundant 
mercy,  hath  begotten  us  again  unto  a  living  hope, 
by  the  resurrection  of  Jesus  Christ  from  the  dead." 

IV.  But  the  Apostle,  in  his  ascription  of  praise, 
not  only  describes  the  Gospel  as  a  living  hope,  and 
points  out  its  ground,  and  announces  its  pledge. 
He  also  states  specifically,  what  is  the  object  of  this 
hope. 

For  a  hope  may  be  good  in  its  ground  and  pledge, 
that  is  to  say,  there  may  be  a  certainty  of  its  fulfill- 
ment ;  and  yet,  in  its  fulfillment,  it  may  be  valueless. 
Men  had  a  right  to  ask  the  Apostle :  "  Suppose  this 


THE    GOSPEL    A    HOPE.  127 

great  hope,  you  speak  of,  fulfilled,  is  it  adequate  to 
make  us  happy,  to  redeem  us  from  our  misery,  to  still 
the  foreboding  of  coming  woe?"  And,  anticipating 
or  answering  this  question,  Peter  announces  the 
object  of  this  hope,  in  language  that  we  can  not  too 
earnestly  study  or  too  often  repeat.  The  object  of 
the  Gospel  hope  is  "  an  inheritance  incorruptible 
and  undefined,  and  that  fadeth  not  away." 

Recall,  I  ask  you,  the  state  of  society  in  which 
this  announcement  was  first  made,  and  which  I  have 
already  attempted  to  describe.  Degraded ;  wretched ; 
evil  almost  beyond  comparison  ;  entirely  hopeless ; 
its  only  amusements  excitements,  which,  in  their 
reaction,  deepened  despair,  and  gave  new  poignancy 
to  remorse ;  recall  this  society,  and  ask  yourselves, 
whether  a  more  adequate  object  of  hope  could  have 
been  announced  ?  Could  a  Gospel  of  better  news, 
of  tidings  more  glad  have  been  proclaimed  ?  I  can 
not  dwell  on  the  Apostle's  words.  I  ask  you  only 
to  observe,  that,  at  once,  they  remove  the  thoughts 
and  aspirations  of  men  from  the  sin  and  turmoil  of 
this  world,  to  the  calm  upper  world  where  the  spirit 
rests  forever  in  the  immediate  presence  of  the  loving 
God.  They  reveal  to  men,  not  a  condition  of  peace 
only,  but  a  place  of  peace,  for  Heaven  is  "  an  inher- 
itance;" an  inheritance  not  only  of  joy,  but  of  joy 
which  neither  time  nor  disaster  can  impair  or  de- 
stroy ;  of  joy  followed  by  no  satiety,  but  "  incor- 
ruptible ;"  of  joy  followed  by  no  remorse,  but  "  un- 
dented ;"  an  inheritance  for  which  no  destruction  is 
reserved;  for  it  "fadeth  not  away."  Nor  has  the 
Gospel  changed  the  object  of  the  hope  which  it 
inspires,  since  Peter  thus  described  it.  Still,  does  it 
point  us  to  the  satisfying  and  abiding  joys  of  our 
eternal  inheritance.     In  this  world,  indeed,  it  offers 


128  SERMONS    ON   THE    CHRISTIAN    LIFE. 

help,  and  consolation,  and  peace.  But  the  help  is 
ours,  and  .the  consolation  and  the  peace  are  ours, 
most  of  all,  because  there  shines,  on  the  horizon  of 
this  world,  the  eternal  light  of  the  city,  in  which 
there  is  neither  pain,  nor  sorrow,  nor  sickness,  nor 
death ;  and  into  which  we,  if  we  will,  may  one  day 
enter.  And  I  ask,  has  the  unchanged  Gospel  lost 
any  of  its  pertinence?  Society  is  better  than  it  was 
in  the  days  of  the  Caesars.  Life  is  purer,  and  larger, 
and  longer,  no  doubt.  But  pain  is  here;  and  so  are 
poverty,  and  sickness,  and  disappointment,  and  be- 
reavement, and  death.  Still,  is  it  true  that  "  vanity 
of  vanities  "  may  be  written  on  most  earthly  things. 
And  still,  is  it  true,  therefore,  that  our  highest  songs 
of  praise  are  due  to  the  God  and  Father  of  our  Lord 
Jesus  Christ,  because,  in  begetting  us  unto  a  lively 
hope,  He  has  made  it,  the  hope  of  "an  inheritance, 
incorruptible,  and  undefined,  and  that  fadeth  not 
away." 

V.  But,  finally,  the  question  might  have  been  put 
to  the  Apostle  Peter :  "  Great  as  this  hope  is,  and 
sure  as  its  ground  is,  and  satisfying  as  its  pledge 
is,  and  inspiring  as  its  object  is;  what  if  we  should 
fail  to  attain  it,  what  if  we  can  not  reach  the  por- 
tals of  the  incorruptible  inheritance?"  And,  not  to 
dwell  at  length  upon  his  words,  let  me  say,  that  the 
Apostle  makes  reply  by  announcing  the  blessed 
truth,  that  the  God  of  love,  who  has  provided  the 
inheritance,  keeps  those  who  trust  Him  from  failing 
to  attain  it.  It  is  an  inheritance,  "  reserved  for  you, 
who  arc  kept  by  the  power  of  God,  through  faith 
unto  salvation."  Of  which  the  meaning  is,  that  our 
entrance  into  heaven,  our  attainment  of  all  the  joy 
which  the  Gospel  promises,  is  dependent  at  last, 
not  on  our  poor  and  feeble  efforts,  but  on  the  God 


THE    GOSPEL    A    HOPE.  129 

who  has  promised  and  provided  it.  A  blessed  truth 
it  is  that  salvation,  both  in  its  inception  and  in  its 
consummation,  is  not  of  works,  lest  any  man  should 
boast.  Boast,  indeed!  with  our  yieldings  and  neg- 
leetings,  and  backslidings !  Boastings,  with  our 
worldliness,  and  enslavement  to  the  flesh !  Thanks 
be  to  God,  our  attainment  of  heaven  is  not  depend- 
ent upon  us.  At  last,  as  now,  when  the  gates  of  the 
city  shall  receive  us,  and  we  shall  enter  into  that 
joy  which  eye  hath  not  seen  nor  ear  heard,  nor 
heart  conceived;  our  redeemed  spirits  will  first  of  all 
sing  the  song:  "Not  unto  us,  but  unto  Thy  name 
give  glory."  For  not  by  our  might,  but  by  the  power 
of  God,  we  shall  have  been  kept,  through  faith  unto 
salvation. 

This,  then,  is  the  Gospel  as  understood  and  pro- 
claimed by  Peter.  A  hope  against  the  world's  de- 
spair. Its  ground,  the  mercy  of  God.  Its  pledge,  the 
resurrection  of  Christ  from  the  dead.  Its  object,  an 
inheritance,  incorruptible  and  undeiiled,  and  that 
fadeth  not  away.  The  certainty  of  our  enjoyment  of 
it,  dependent  not  on  our  poor  sinful  powers;  but  on 
the  might  of  the  omnipotent  God,  by  whom  we  are 
kept,  through  faith,  unto  salvation.  If  this  is  the 
Gospel,  let  us  not  wonder,  that  Peter's  epistle  opens 
with  a  psalm  of  praise.  Nay,  let  us  not  wonder  that 
his  whole  life  was  a  life  of  gratitude,  manifested  in 
continuous  labor  and  self-sacrifice.  And  should  our 
praise  be  less  fervent;  should  our  lives  be  less  de- 
voted than  his  ?  Have  we  been  rescued  from  a 
condemnation  less  severe,  or  from  a  condition  less 
wretched?  We  profess  to  believe  this  Gospel.  What 
are  we  doing  to  publish  it?  What  are  we  doing 
to  magnify  in  life,  and  labor,  the  God  of  mercy, 
who  hath  begotten  us  again  unto  a  lively  hope,  by 


130  SERMONS   ON   THE    CHRISTIAN   LIFE. 

the  resurrection  of  Jesus  Christ  from  the  dead? 
God  grant  us  grace,  to  be  more  loyal  to  this  Gospel, 
which  it  is  the  office  of  the  Church  to  proclaim  to 
men.  God  grant  that  our  labors  in  its  behalf  may 
be  more  abundant,  our  gifts  larger,  our  sacrifices 
more  thorough  and  more  cheerful. 

And,  if  there  are  any  here,  who  have  been  per- 
plexed by  the  question :  "  What  is  Christianity  ? "  let 
them  carry  away  this  description  by  the  Great  Apos- 
tle. Christianity  is  a  hope  offered  to  you;  a  hope 
grounded  in  the  mercy  of  God;  pledged  to  fulfill- 
ment by  the  resurrection  of  his  Son ;  a  hope  of  ever- 
lasting bliss,  assured  to  you  by  the  might  of  the 
indwelling  God.  It  is  a  hope  offered;  but  for 
that  reason,  it  is  a  hope  that  must  be  accepted  or 
rejected  by  you.  To  accept  it  is  to  believe;  to  reject 
it  is  to  return  to  the  world;  to  live  for  a  time  in  its 
fleeting,  unsatisfying  pleasures;  to  be  satiated  with 
them;  but  to  return  to  them,  at  last,  in  desperation; 
as  they  do,  who  say :  "  Let  us  eat  and  drink,  for  to- 
morrow we  die." 


IX. 
THE  BURDEN  OF  THE  BODY. 

"  For  we  that  are  in  this  tabernacle  do  groan,  being  bur- 
dened."— II.  Corinthians  v,  4. 

In  the  last  two  verses  of  the  preceding  chapter,  the 
Apostle  states  one  of  the  most  important  truths  to 
be  found  in  the  New  Testament.  He  tells  us,  that 
if  we  look  at  the  things  which  are  unseen  and  eter- 
nal,— that  is,  if  we  are  spiritually  minded, — our 
affliction  can  not  harm  us ;  we  shall  be  prepared  for 
it;  we  shall  make  it  our  servant;  and  it  will  work 
for  us  a  far  more  exceeding  and  eternal  weight  of 
glory.  In  illustrating  this  truth,  he  takes  the  extreme 
case  of  affliction,  the  case  of  death  itself;  the  "disso- 
lution of  this  earthly  tabernacle,"  in  which  we  live. 
Let  even  that  occur,  he  tells  us,  to  one,  whose  habit  of 
soul  is  such,  that  he  may  be  said  to  "look  at  the 
things  which  are  unseen  and  eternal ; "  and  the  dissolu- 
tion of  his  earthly  tabernacle  will  work  for  him  a  far 
more  exceeding  and  eternal  weight  of  glory;  for  it 
will  be  the  means  of  introducing  him,  the  sooner,  to 
the  house  not  made  with  hands,  eternal  in  the  heav- 
ens. He  is  thus  led  to  describe  the  condition  of  the 
spiritually  minded  man  in   this   earthly  tabernacle; 

(131) 


132  SERMONS    ON    THE    CHRISTIAN    LIFE. 

which  he  does  iii  the  words  I  have  selected  as  my 
text:  "We  that  are  in  this  tabernacle  do  groan, 
being  burdened." 

Presupposing,  as  they  do,  on  the  part  of  those  to 
whom  they  are  addressed,  this  habit  of  spiritual- 
niindedness,  or,  to  employ  the  Apostle's  phrase,  "a 
looking  at  things  which  are  unseen  and  eternal,'' 
these  words  are  addressed  to  Christians;  and  they 
state  the  truth,  that  the  present  conditions  of  their 
existence  are  so  unfavorable  to  the  development  of 
the  Christian  life,  that  they  "  groan,  being  burdened." 

I  am  sure,  that  it  is  well  for  us,  Christian  breth- 
ren, to  dwell,  at  times,  upon  this  unfavorable  side  of 
the  life  that  we  live  in  the  flesh.  "We  shall  find  it 
a  subject  of  the  most  practical  character.  On  the 
one  hand,  it  will  aid  us  in  "toning  our  desires  for 
time's  rewards  down  to  a  degree  befitting  time's 
brevity."  On  the  other,  it  will  help  us  to  a  better  ap- 
preciation of  the  opportunities  for  spiritual  culture, 
which  our  life  in  the  body  affords. 

It  may  serve  to  prevent  any  misunderstanding  of 
what  I  shall  say  on  this  subject,  if  I  preface  my  re- 
marks with  the  statement,  that  a  life  in  bodies 
formed  as  ours  are,  and  in  the  relations  made  pos- 
sible by  these  physical  frames  and  senses  and  ap- 
petites, is  not  without  advantage  to  us,  as  sinful 
beings  whom  God  is  educating  with  a  view  to  their 
perfect  holiness.  The  preacher  of  the  Gospel,  in  the 
exercise  of  his  teaching  function,  needs  to  be  care- 
ful, lest  he  substitute  mere  individual  speculations 
for  the  revealed  truth  of  God.  But  it  is  not  improper 
to  say,  that — though  modes  of  administration,  incon- 
ceivable to  us,  are  possible  to  the  omniscient  God — 
we  are  unable  to  see,  how  a  fallen  man  could  be  re- 
gained to  allegiance  to  God;  how  holiness  could  be 


THE  BURDEN  OP  THE  BODY.  133 

ro-developed  within  him ;  except  for  the  residence  of 
his  spirit  in  a  body.  Certainly,  it  is  obvious,  that 
the  pains,  the  trials,  the  perplexities,  through  which, 
in  the  actual  administration  of  his  grace,  we  are 
brought  back  to  the  love  and  the  service  of  our 
heavenly  Father,  are  possible  only  in  an  existence 
like  ours,  who  "in  this  tabernacle  groan,  being  bur- 
dened." Let  any  one  endeavor  to  call  before  him  those 
"  providential  visitations," — as  we  aptly  denominate 
them — by  means  of  which,  he  has  been  led  to  think 
of  God,  and  to  believe  Him,  and  at  last  to  love  and 
live  for  Him;  and  he  will  not  fail  to  recognize  the 
force  of  this  remark.  All  of  these  visitations, — the 
sicknesses,  the  losses  of  property,  the  deaths  of 
friends,  the  trials,  and  the  dangers  of  life, — of  which 
our  Father  has  made  use,  in  turning  our  hearts  to 
Himself,  are  possible,  only  because  we  are  creatures 
of  sense,  as  well  as  immortal  spirits.  Let  any  one 
think  of  himself,  as  possessing  only  a  spiritual  nat- 
ure, as  without  a  physical  frame;  and  then  think 
of  himself  as  a  sinner.  Let  him,  with  this  image 
in  his  mind,  attempt  to  picture,  or  to  conceive  of  a 
process,  by  which  he  could  be  brought  back  into 
harmony  with  a  holy  God ;  and  I  have  no  hesita- 
tion in  saying,  that  he  will  find  that  he  has  set 
before  him  an  impossible  task.  It  does  not  be- 
come one  to  speak  confidently  on  one  of  the  most 
mysterious  subjects,  referred  to  in  the  sacred  writ- 
ings ;  but  it  does  not  seem  to  me  at  all  improbable, 
that  we  have  here  a  partial  explanation,  at  least, 
of  sinful  man's  redemption;  as  contrasted  with  the 
fact,  so  clearly  revealed  in  his  Word,  that  God  never 
interposed  to  save  those  purely  spiritual  beings,  who 
fell  from  their  high  estate.  It  was  man's  body,  that 
made  it  easy  for  man  to  fall.    And  it  would  seem  to 


134  SERMONS    ON    THE    CHRISTIAN   LIFE. 

be  man's  bodily  life,  with,  its  complex  relations,  that 
makes  man's  salvation  possible.  It  was  a  physical  ap- 
petite through  which  man  was  tempted  into  sin. 
And  the  glory  of  man's  recovery,  the  greatness  of 
God's  triumph  in  securing  it,  is  in  his  large  employ- 
ment of  this  same  physical  nature,  through  which 
man  fell,  to  bring  him  back  to  holiness. 

This  is  the  view,  that  we  should  ever  keep  before 
us,  of  our  life  in  the  tiesh.  It  is  true,  that  "  we  groan 
and  are  burdened;"  but  we  are  held  to  our  life  in  this 
tabernacle,  in  order  that  we  may  be  prepared  for  the 
house  not  made  with  hands,  eternal  in  the  heavens. 
Sickness  comes,  and  bereavement,  and  poverty,  and 
pain — and  all  of  them,  you  will  observe,  are  events 
possible  only  in  our  present  state — in  order  that  we 
may  attain  that  holiness,  without  which  no  man  can 
see  the  Lord.  The  material  is  always  for  the  spir- 
itual. The  highest  thing,  that  can  be  said  of  this 
material  universe,  which,  from  day  to  day  uttereth 
speech  of  the  glory  God,  is,  that  it  is  not  its  own 
final  cause;  but  is  the  theater  of  spiritual  activities; 
is  in  order  to  the  unfolding  of  spiritual  truth,  and 
the  development  of  spiritual  character.  And  the  real 
dignity  of  this  life  in  the  body  is  not  to  be  found  in 
itself;  in  the  mere  eating,  and  drinking,  and  sleep- 
ing, and  seeing,  and  hearing;  but  in  the  fact,  that  it 
is  the  instrument  employed  by  God  to  re-form  in 
man  the  divine  image. 

It  is  only  as  we  grasp  this  truth,  that  we  appreciate 
the  dignity  and  the  sacredncss  of  this  physical  life. 
The  first  man,  Adam,  was  given  dominion  over  the 
earth;  because  he  was  made  in  the  image  of  God. 
God  put  all  things  under  him,  and  made  all  things 
in  order  to  his  well-being.  So  his  kingship  was 
obtained.      And  it  was  lost,   only  when   he  placed 


THE  BURDEN    OF    THE    BODY.  135 

the  creature  before  the  Creator;  and  chose,  before 
spiritual  obedience  to  God's  commands,  the  earthly 
fruit  that  seemed  good  for  food,  because  it  was  pleas- 
ant to  the  eyes.  "  Where  sin  abounded,  grace  much 
more  abounds."  The  physical  life,  by  which  man 
fell  from  communion  with  God,  is  that,  by  means  of 
which,  he  is  to  be  brought  back  into  God's  fellowship 
and  likeness.  This  is  the  dignity  and  utility  of  the 
life  that  we  live  in  the  flesh.  This  is  the  meaning  of 
this  earthly  tabernacle  in  which  we  groan,  being 
burdened.  This  is  the  virtue,  that  lies  concealed  in 
its  troubles  and  pains,  and  toils,  and  death.  So  it 
becomes  us  to  accept  the  earthly  life;  and  so  it 
behooves  us  to  live  it ;  else  we  shall  lose  its  worth. 
And  yet,  while  all  this  is  to  be  said  of  it,  it  remains 
true,  that  "we  that  are  in  this  tabernacle,  groan, 
being  burdened."  It  is  an  abnormal  life,  as  we  live 
it;  and  the  spirit  of  man  sighs  beneath  the  weight 
of  it.  Let  us  take  up  this  statement  of  the  Apostle, 
and  endeavor  to  learn  the  grounds  of  it ;  and,  having 
done  this,  attend  to  the  practical  lessons,  which  the 
subject  contains  for  us. 

Notice,  then,  in  the  first  place,  some  of  the  lim- 
itations of  a  life  in  the  body — without  reference  to 
sin — which  help  to  explain  the  Apostle's  words.  The 
most  obvious  of  these  relate  to  the  material  universe. 
We  are  limited  in  space.  To  what  "a  grain  of  sand 
on  the  high  field  of  immensity,"  do  these  bodies  of 
ours  confine  us!  From  day  to  day,  we  enjoy  the 
sublime  spectacle  of  the  heavens  above  us.  Who  can 
tell  the  number  of  the  stars,  or  grasp  the  distances 
which,  as  we  know,  separate  them  from  us?  What 
thoughtful  man,  gazing  into  the  deep  vault  above, 
has  not  kindled  into  rapture  as  he  has  remembered, 
that  he  has  a  mind  capable  of  appreciating  all  the 


136  SERMONS    ON   THE    CHRISTIAN   LIFE. 

glories  of  all  the  suns  and  systems  that  he  beholds; 
that  the  members  of  his  species  alone,  of  all  the 
living  creatures  upon  earth,  know  the  meaning  of 
their  movements,  and  the  final  cause  of  their  exist- 
ence? Who  of  us  has  not  felt  the  glow  of  a  pardon- 
able pride,  as  he  has  recalled  the  wondrous  secrets, 
which  the  glass  of  the  astronomer  has  extorted  from 
the  unwilling  skies?  How  wonderful  that  knowl- 
edge— how  like  to  inspiration  itself — which  foretells 
the  coming  and  the  going  of  bodies  so  distant,  that 
imagination  falters  in  attempting  to  fly  through  the 
intervening  space !  No  conquests  of  the  human  mind 
are  more  impressive,  than  those  which  it  has  made 
in  the  regions,  which  it  has  explored  with  the  tele- 
scope. And  it  requires  no  undue  exercise  of  the  fancy, 
to  think  of  the  careful  observer  of  the  stars,  as  a  vis- 
itor among  the  worlds,  which  he  has  so  often  gazed  on, 
from  afar.  But  being  in  this  tabernacle,  "he  groans, 
being  burdened."  Contrast  the  distances  which  the 
astronomer's  mind  traverses,  with  the  limits  to  which 
his  body  confines  him.  Were  he  able  to  lift  himself 
even  a  few  short  miles  above  the  planets'  surface — 
which  he  can  not  do — he  would  be  driven  back  to 
earth  for  air  to  breathe  and  food  to  strengthen  him. 
The  planets  invite  him  to  themselves,  both  by  what 
they  reveal  and  by  what  they  conceal.  But  his  body 
holds  him  down.  He  is  confined  in  this  tabernacle. 
And  their  rays  come  to  him,  as  the  daylight  comes 
to  the  criminal  through  the  bars  of  his  prison  house. 
Or  think  of  man's  limitations  in  another  direction. 
The  wonders  of  astronomy  are  paralleled  only  by 
the  wonders  of  geology.  What  rapid  strides  have 
been  made  by  man,  during  the  present  century,  to- 
ward a  knowledge  of  the  origin  and  physical  history 
of  the  world  on  which  we  live !     If  the  stars  have 


THE  BUKDEN  OF  THE  BODY.  137 

been  questioned,  and  made  to  tell  their  secrets,  so 
have  the  rocks  beneath  us.  With  what  precision, 
does  the  story,  lately  told,  of  the  earth's  career, 
move  from  chaos,  now  through  revolutions,  and 
now  through  long  periods  of  slow  development,  on 
to  the  present  era !  How  admirable  the  investiga- 
tions, which  have  ended,  in  finding  the  secret  of  the 
mighty  movements,  which  upheaved  our  mountain 
ridges,  or  opened  the  long  and  wide  fissures,  through 
which  the  great  rivers  flow  to  the  all-embracing 
ocean !  What  a  triumph  of  mind  was  the  discovery 
of  the  process,  by  which  the  little  pebbles,  of  which 
the  conglomerate  is  formed,  were  held  together  and 
hardened  into  a  solid  mass;  and  then  cut  to  a  face, 
which  suggests  both  the  tools  and  the  skill  of  a  lap- 
idary !  That  such  knowledge  is  not  too  wonderful 
for  man,  tells  of  a  mighty  mind  in  man.  But  how 
short  is  the  distance  which  man,  because  of  his  life 
in  the  body,  can  travel  toward  the  center  of  the 
earth!  I  have  already  spoken  of  the  near  point 
above  the  world,  at  which  he  can  live.  But  nearer 
still  is  the  point  within  the  world,  where,  could  he 
go,  he  would  die.  Thus  his  body  limits  him  in  space, 
on  every  side.  He  is  a  prisoner  in  the  tabernacle,  in 
which  he  groans,  being  burdened. 

But  this  limitation  in  space  is  not  the  only,  or  the 
most  striking  limitation  of  man's  life  in  the  body. 
We  shall  observe  another,  if  we  consider  the  close 
connection,  in  this  life,  between  the  exercise  of  his 
mental  faculties  and  the  condition  of  his  material 
frame.  The  latest  researches  of  scientific  men  have 
made  the  fact  of  this  connection  more  certain;  and, 
by  their  discoveries  of  its  character,  have  made  it  the 
most  impressive  of  physiological  truths.  I  shall 
not,  however,  speak  of  any  thing  beyond  the  com- 


138  SERMONS    ON    THE    CHRISTIAN    LIFE. 

prehension  of  any  one  of  us.  I  shall  refer  only  to 
the  facts  of  the  commonest  observation  and  experi- 
ence. Is  it  not,  in  the  highest  degree,  singular,  that, 
though  the  mind  of  man  is  his  glory,  in  this  life  it  is 
always  at  the  bidding  of  the  body?  How  weary  the 
mind  becomes,  because  of  the  "weariness  "  of  the  phys- 
ical brain !  When  the  mind  is  most  active,  and 
labors  are  most  alluring  and  engrossing,  how  often 
is  it  compelled  to  cease  from  work,  because  the  body 
must  re-create  itself,  by  eating  or  sleeping !  How 
terribly  does  the  body  assert  this  power  over  the 
mind,  when  the  latter  rises  in  rebellion  against  the 
body's  sluggishness,  and  works  on  and  on,  until  it 
is  hampered  by  the  body's  paralysis,  or  is  lashed  into 
renewed  subjection  by  fever !  How  many  years,  from 
the  beginning  of  life,  must  the  mind  wait  for  the 
body  to  develop,  before  it  dares  to  put  forth  its 
strongest  efforts !  And  how  many  years,  before  the 
close  of  life,  is  the  mind  compelled  to  rest  from  toil, 
only  because  the  body  is  worn  with  labor!  Has  it 
ever  occurred  to  you,  how  much  more  man  might 
accomplish  but  for  the  incessant  demands  which  his 
mere  animal  life  makes  upon  him  ?  Is  not  that  a 
strange,  unnatural  condition,  in  which  the  greater 
portion  of  one's  life  is  necessarily  consumed,  in  car- 
ing for  the  material  home  in  which  he  dwells?  It 
is,  as  if  one  purchased  a  residence,  and  most  of  his 
days  were  given  to  its  repair.  So  is  man  burdened 
in  this  tabernacle  in  which  he  dwells.  It  limits  him 
on  every  side,  in  space  and  time  alike. 

But  notice  another  peculiarity  of  this  life  in  the 
body.  Its  keenest  and  most  enticing  sensations  of 
pleasure  are  the  shortest  lived;  and  are  followed  by 
proportionate  satiety.  All  of  us  know,  that  every  ap- 
petite of  the  body,  which  cries  to  be  satisfied,  tempts 


THE  BURDEN  OF  THE  BODY.  139 

us  on,  until,  when  it  is  satisfied,  we  are  not  satisfied, 
but  cloyed.  I  need  not  stop  to  describe  the  methods, 
by  which  the  body  tempts  men  to  drunkenness  and 
gluttony  and  others  sins,  by  holding  out  promises 
of  ecstatic  delights.  Nor  need  I  try  to  tell  the  price 
of  weakness,  of  weariness,  and  of  loathing,  which 
they  soon  pay  for  their  dearly  bought  joys.  The 
cheated  soul,  in  the  tabernacle  of  the  flesh,  groans, 
being  burdened. 

Or  think  of  the  long  catalogue — which  time  does 
not  permit  me  to  recite — of  those  accidental  ills,  to 
the  perils  of  which  each  of  us  is  every  day  sub- 
jected, because  of  the  life  that  he  lives  in  the  flesh. 
The  touch  of  infectious  disease ;  the  epidemic,  that 
fills  the  air  we  breathe  with  the  seeds  of  death; 
the  frightful  accidents  of  travel;  the  upheavals  of 
nature ;  the  bolt  of  lightning ;  the  swift  and  deadly 
stroke  of  the  meridian  sun — these,  the  pestilence  that 
walketh  in  darkness,  and  the  destruction  that  wast- 
eth  at  noonday,  by  which  thousands  fall  at  our  side, 
and  ten  thousand  at  our  right  hand,  are  our  mas- 
ters, because  of  our  life  in  the  body.  Let  us  not 
wonder  at  the  Apostle's  words :  "  We  that  are  in 
this  tabernacle  do  groan,  being  burdened." 

"We  shall  find  other  reasons  for  the  Apostle's  state- 
ment if  we  regard  the  body,  as  it  was  designed  to  be,  as 
the  instrument,  by  which  the  spirit  expresses  itself.  I 
am  speaking,  of  course,  of  the  body  as  it  is;  not  of 
the  body,  as  it  might  have  been  had  man  maintained 
the  holiness  in  which  he  was  created.  Doubtless  his 
body,  in  that  case,  would  have  adequately  expressed 
the  life  of  his  spiritual  nature.  It  would  have  been 
finely  sensitive  to  the  spiritual  feelings,  and  per- 
fectly responsive  to  the  spirit's  volitions.  What  the 
body  would  have  finally  become  under  the  culture 


140  SERMONS    ON    THE    CHRISTIAN    LIFE. 

of  unfallen  man,  we  can  not  of  course  tell.  I  do 
not  doubt  that  man's  power  over  nature  would  have 
been  immeasurably  greater  than  it  is  to-day.  Cer- 
tainly, the  body  would  have  been  far  less  limited, 
than  it  now  is,  in  expressing  the  mental  and  spir- 
itual life  which  it  enshrines.  Of  the  limitations  of 
the  body  in  expressing  the  life  of  the  spirit,  who  has 
not  had  painful  experience  ?  Let  me  refer  to  but  one 
of  these  limitations.  All  will  agree  that  man  is,  by  no 
other  physical  power,  so  widely  separated  from  the 
animal  kingdom  below  him,  as  he  is  by  the  power  of 
articulate  speech.  Language  is  man's  noblest  phys- 
ical endowment.  Its  nobility  lies  in  the  fact,  that  it 
presupposes  faculties — like  the  power  by  which  we 
abstract  and  generalize,  and  the  power  by  which  we 
perceive  universal  and  necessary  truth — of  which  no 
brute  animal  possesses  the  rudiments.  Of  these  high 
powers,  language,  whether  vocalized  or  represented 
by  symbols  on  the  written  page,  is  the  bodily  expres- 
sion. It  is  the  most  far-reaching,  the  most  subtle, 
the  most  elastic  instrument  of  expression,  that  man 
possesses.  How  poor  and  clumsy,  as  instruments  of 
expression,  in  comparison  with  speech,  are  those  fine 
arts,  which  appeal  to  the  senses  by  form,  or  color,  or 
sound!  Surely,  if,  in  any  particular,  the  body  is  an 
aid,  and  not  a  burden  to  man;  it  is  in  its  power  to 
articulate,  in  "words  that  burn,"  the  "thoughts  that 
breathe"  from  the  indwelling  spirit.  But  I  ask 
whether  it  is  not  true,  that  here,  also,  "  we  that  are 
in  this  tabernacle  do  groan,  being  burdened?"  Set- 
ting aside,  for  the  moment,  the  limitations  inherent 
in  language,  there  is  a  difficulty  almost  insurmount- 
able, in  thoroughly  mastering  the  instrument  itself. 
Who  has  not  felt,  in  the  act  of  speech — especially 
when  the  topic  has  been  a  lofty  intellectual  or  spir- 


THE    BURDEN    OF  THE    BODY.  141 

itual  theme — a  painful  lack  of  concurrence  between 
the  spirit  and  the  body?  What,  indeed,  is  the  genius 
of  the  great  reflective  poet  or  philosopher,  but  this : 
that  the  concurrence  between  thought  and  language, 
which  is  lacking  in  us,  exists  in  him?  It  is  not  that 
we  fail  to  perceive  the  truth,  which  he  perceives 
and  to  which  he  has  been  able  to  give  a  more  nearly 
adequate  expression.  Our  highest  tribute  to  his 
genius  is  the  tribute,  that  he  has  said  what  we 
knew,  but  which,  struggle  as  we  might,  we  could  not 
say. 

Indeed,  those,  whose  mastery  of  language  has  been 
the  admiration  and  despair  of  their  fellow-men,  have, 
like  the  rest  of  us,  groaned  under  the  conviction  of 
the  poverty  of  their  speech.  However  exceptional 
has  been  their  "  curious  felicity "  of  spoken  or  of 
written  language,  they  have  felt,  that  they  have  only 
"prophesied  in  part."  Perhaps,  the  most  striking 
illustration  of  the  truth,  stated  in  the  text,  is  fur- 
nished by  man,  when,  struggling  to  speak  out  a  great 
truth,  he  finds  himself  in  only  partial  possession  of 
the  physical  instrument  of  expression.  A  great  liv- 
ing writer  of  prose  has  confessed,  that  he  has,  more 
than  once,  labored  for  hours  on  the  construction  of 
a  single  sentence.  And  I  have  often  thought,  that 
there  must  have  been  times,  when  a  master  of  expres- 
sion in  the  region  of  abstract  truth  like  Thomas 
Aquinas,  or  a  great  poet  like  Dante,  has  wished  that 
he  could  command  the  body,  that  separated  between 
himself  and  his  fellow-man,  to  fall  away;  in  order 
that  spirit  might  commune  immediately  with  spirit, 
as  face  answereth  unto  face.  Indeed,  it  may  be  stated 
as  a  law,  that,  just  in  the  proportion  in  which  thought 
is  lofty  and  profound  and  spiritual,  man,  in  the 
attempt  to  express  it  in  articulate  speech,  groans, 


142  SERMONS    ON    THE    CHRISTIAN    LIFE. 

being  burdened.  Nor  is  this  only  because  man  him- 
self has  not  mastered  his  instrument  of  expression. 
The  instrument  itself  is  limited.  The  spirit  of  man 
is  greater  than  the  power  of  speech.  Man  discerns 
truth,  which  speech  can  not  adequately  express.  Thus 
language,  while  it  partially  reveals,  also  partially  con- 
ceals man's  knowledge.  Socrates,  therefore,  in  describ- 
ing the  perfect  state,  speaking  of  those  whose  lives 
are  given  to  attempts  explicitly  to  state  the  funda- 
mental truths,  which  are  implicitly  the  possession  of 
each  human  soul,  says:  "Those  who  have  duly  puri- 
fied themselves  with  philosophy,  live  henceforth  alto- 
gether without  the  body,  in  mansions  fairer  far  than 
these,  and  of  which  the  time  would  fail  me  to  tell."* 
So  the  Apostle  Paul  taught.  It  was  not  of  this  life ; 
but  of  the  life  to  come,  that  he  said,  not  only: 
"  We  shall  know  as  we  are  known,"  but  also :  "  We 
shall  see  face  to  face." 

I  have  thus  far  spoken  of  man  only  in  his  in- 
dividual life.  I  had  intended,  if  time  permitted, 
to  speak  of  him  in  his  relations  to  his  fellow-men ; 
and  to  show,  how  the  adventitious  inequalities  be- 
tween men,  due  to  relations  made  possible  only  by 
the  body,  are  the  cause  of  no  inconsiderable  propor- 
tion of  the  groaning  of  men  in  this  tabernacle  of  the 
flesh.  It  was  my  purpose,  also,  to  dwell  on  the  limits, 
which  his  possession  of  a  body  puts  upon  his  acqui- 
sition of  knowledge;  and,  setting  this  over  against 
his  insatiable  thirst  for  truth,  to  ask  whether  we 
have  not  in  this  fact  another  reason  for  Paul's  state- 
ment that,  man  in  this  tabernacle  groans,  being  bur- 
dened.f 

*  Phsedo,  114.     Jowett's  translation. 

f  The  limitations,  placed  by  the  body  on  man's  power  to  ac- 
quire knowledge,  are  not  due  merely  to  the  small  number  of  senses, 


THE  BURDEN  OF  THE  BODY.  143 

But,  brethren,  beyond  all  these  considerations, 
which  give  force  to  the  words  of  the  Apostle,  therp 
is  another,  that  was  directly  before  his  mind,  when 
he  wrote  this  Epistle. 

What  that  was,  we  shall  understand,  only  as  we 
remember,  in  what  capacity  and  for  what  purpose,  he 
was  writing  to  these  men  and  women  in  the  city  of 

through  which,  as  through  windows,  the  spirit  inspects  the  uni- 
verse. These  limitations  are  due  chiefly  to  the  fact,  that  man's 
knowledge  in  his  present  state,  is  dependent  on  sense-perception. 
For  sense-perception  being  the  avenue  of  knowledge  limits  it. 
I  do  not  mean,  of  course,  that  it  is  the  cause  of  knowledge,  in 
the  proper  sense  of  the  term  cause.  I  do  mean  that  sense- 
perception  is  the  necessary  occasion  of  knowledge.  Intuitive 
truths  emerge  into  consciousness  only  on  the  occasion  of  the 
perception  of  objects,  in  which  the  truths  inhere  as  particular 
facts.  Even,  therefore,  if  the  number  of  our  senses  were  multi- 
plied a  hundred-fold,  our  knowledge,  though  it  would  be  vastly 
increased,  would  still  be  limited  in  exactly  the  way  in  which  it 
is  at  present.  Nor  would  the  spirit  groan  any  the  less  in  its 
tabernacle  of  a  hundred  senses  than  it  does  now  in  its  tabernacle 
of  six;  though  it  might  rejoice  in  the  multiplication  of  the 
windows  of  its  dwelling. 

Sir  William  Hamilton  [Metaphyics,  p.  101]  quotes  a  passage 
from  the  Micromegas,  a  philosophical  romance  of  Voltaire, 
which  finely  illustrates  this  truth.  The  passage  is  a  conversa- 
tion between  an  inhabitant  of  Saturn,  who  has  seventy-two 
senses,  and  is  able  to  detect  and  classify  three  hundred  essential 
properties  of  matter,  and  Micromegas,  an  inhabitant  of  one  of 
the  planets  of  Sirius,  who  "has  very  near  one  thousand  senses." 
Micromegas  confesses,  that  with  all  these  senses,  he  feels  con- 
tinually "  a  sort  of  listless  inquietude  and  vague  desire,  which 
are  forever  telling  him  that  he  is  nothing;  and  that  there  are 
beings  infinitely  nearer  perfection."  That  Sir  William  Hamilton 
uses  this  extract  in  the  interests  of  a  theory  of  knowledge, 
which,  if  accepted,  must  destroy  our  confidence  in  fundamental 
truth,  does  not  make  it  less  happy  as  an  illustration  of  the 
truth,  that  mere  sense-perceptions,  however  multiplied,  can  never 
aid  us  in  attaining  that  knowledge  in  kind,  for  which  man  now 
cries  in  vain,   because  imprisoned  in  a  "  natural  body."     The 


144  SERMONS    ON    THE    CHRISTIAN    LIFE. 

Corinth.  We  must  remember,  that  he  and  they  were 
conscious  sinners.  They  were  giving  the  labor  of 
their  lives  to  the  throttling  and  the  killing  of  sin 
within  their  own  hearts,  and  to  the  destruction  of 
sin  in  the  hearts  of  those  around  them.  Under 
the  guidance  of  the  Spirit  of  God,  they  had  learned 
to  know  and  to  feel,  as  few  of  those,  in  whose 
society  they    lived,    knew    and    felt   the    exceeding 

"natural  body"  would  not  be  changed  into  a  "spiritual  body" 
were  the  number  of  the  senses  increased  a  hundred-fold.  What 
the  spirit  of  man,  in  its  search  after  truth,  longs  for,  is  not  so 
much  an  improvement,  through  the  multiplication  of  senses,  of 
the  present  mode  of  attaining  knowledge,  as  a  new,  that  is,  a 
spiritual  mode  of  knowledge.  This — apart  from  sin — is,  perhaps, 
the  profoundest  reason  for  man's  groaning  in  the  tabernacle  that 
burdens  him.  So  Plato  makes  Socrates  say  in  the  Phsedo 
[66,  67]:  "Moreover,  if  there  is  time  and  an  inclination  toward 
philosophy,  yet  the  body  introduces  a  turmoil,  and  confusion, 
and  fear  into  the  course  of  speculation,  and  hinders  us  from 
seeing  the  truth;  and  all  experience  shows  that  if  we  would 
have  pure  knowledge  of  any  thing  we  must  quit  the  body,  and 
the  soul  in  herself  must  see  things  in  themselves;  then  I  sup- 
pose that  we  shall  attain  that  which  we  desire,  and  of  which  we 
say  that  we  are  lovers,  and  that  is  wisdom,  not  while  we  live, 
but  after  death,  as  the  argument  shows;  for  if  while  in  company 
with  the  body,  the  soul  can  not  have  pure  knowledge,  one  of  two 
things  seems  to  follow;  either  knowledge  can  not  be  attained  at 
all,  or,  if  at  all,  after  death.  For  then,  and  not  till  then,  the 
soul  will  be  in  herself  alone,  and  without  the  body.  In  the 
present  life,  I  reckon  that  we  make  the  nearest  approach  to 
knowledge  when  we  have  the  least  possible  concern  or  interest 
of  the  body,  and  are  not  saturated  with  the  bodily  nature,  but 
remain  pure  until  the  hour  when  God  pleases  to  release  us.  And 
then  the  foolishness  of  the  body  will  be  cleared  away,  and  we 
shall  be  pure,  and  hold  converse  with  other  pure  souls,  and  know 
of  ourselves  the  clear  light  everywhere;  and  this  is  surely  the 
light  of  truth.  For  no  impure  thing  is  allowed  to  approach  the 
pure.  These  are  the  sort  of  words,  Simmias,  which  the  true 
lovers  of  wisdom  can  not  help  saying  to  one  another,  and  think- 
ing."— Jowett's  translation. 


THE    BURDEN    OF    THE    BODY.  145 

sinfulness  of  sin.  They  bated  it.  They  deter- 
mined, that,  with  the  help  of  God,  they  would  not 
permit  it  to  reign  in  their  mortal  bodies.  In  this 
warfare,  they  were  battling  bravely,  with  the  felt 
help  of  the  Saviour,  in  whose  name  they  were  waging 
it.  Paul  wrote  to  the  Corinthian  Church,  as  to  a 
company  of  such  warriors  against  indwelling  and 
surrounding  sin.  And  it  was  chiefly  because  their 
life  in  the  body  made  temptations  to  sin  more 
powerful  and  more  numerous,  that  he  wrote  :  "  We 
that  are  in  this  tabernacle  do  groan,  being  bur- 
dened." It  is,  as  if  he  had  said:  "This  body  is  the 
citadel  of  the  sin,  against  which  we,  who  are  spir- 
itually minded,  battle.  This  body  is  the  theater  of 
our  conflict.  And  so  long  as  the  life  in  the  body 
continues,  the  conflict  can  not  cease.  So  long  as 
these  appetites  and  passions  exist;  so  long  as  this 
life  in  the  body  makes  necessary  engrossing  business, 
and  makes  possible  enticing  physical  and  social  pleas- 
ures ;  so  long  as  it  continually  tempts  us  to  long  for 
and  labor  after,  as  the  end  of  life,  the  things  that 
are  seen  and  temporal,  the  warfare  must  continue; 
and  we  must  know,  what  the  perils  and  the  wounds 
of  battle  are.  So  long  as  'we  are  in  this  tabernacle 
we  shall  groan,  being  burdened.'"  Ah!  friends,  I 
do  not  need  to  explain  in  detail  the  meaning  of  the 
Apostle's  words.  If  we  are  really  striving  against 
sin ;  if  we  are  really  endeavoring,  with  the  help  of 
God,  to  become  holy,  as  Christ  is  holy;  we  feel  better 
than  words  can  describe  it,  the  awful,  the  bitter  truth 
of  the  text.  The  Apostle,  in  another  letter, — so  ter- 
ribly did  he  feel  the  truth,  which  he  here  states, — 
connects  his  sin  with  his  body  so  closely,  as  to 
say:  "I  see  a  law  in  my  members,  warring  against 
the  law  of  my  mind,  and  bringing  into  captivity  to 


146  SERMONS    ON    THE    CHRISTIAN    LIFE. 

the  law  of  sin  in  my  members.  O  wretched  man 
that  I  am,  who  shall  deliver  me  from  the  body  of  this 
death?" 

Let  us  lay  it  down,  therefore,  as  a  maxim  in 
Christian  living,  that  it  is  to  be  a  strife,  and  a 
terrible  strife,  until  we  are  relieved  of  the  body. 
There  is  no  discharge  in  this  war.  It  is  ceaseless, 
until  death  crowns  the  faithful  soul  with  triumph. 
For  the  body  will  not  surrender  its  claims  to  be  re- 
garded as  the  highest  portion  of  our  being ;  and  the 
life  of  the  body  will  not  cease  its  harassments  of  the 
spirit,  until  the  earthly  house  of  this  tabernacle  is 
dissolved,  and  we  are  clothed  upon  with  our  house, 
which  is  from  heaven.  Let  me  speak,  therefore,  to 
any  who  suppose  that,  because  they  believe  in  the 
Saviour,  the  days  of  agonizing  and  striving  are  over. 
The  striving  has  but  begun  when  a  man  has  accepted 
Christ.  Then,  for  the  first  time,  the  spirit  and  body 
war  with  each  other  in  earnest.  Paul's  words  :  "  0 
wretched  man  that  I  am,  who  shall  deliver  me  from 
the  body  of  this  death?"  were  written  twenty-five 
years  after  he  beheld  the  vision  of  Christ  near  to 
Damascus.  Each  of  us  may  well  make  his  own  the 
words  of  the  familiar  hymn — 

"  Fight  on,  my  soul,  till  death 
Shall  bring  thee  to  thy  God. 
He  '11  take  thee,  at  thy  parting  breath, 
Up  to  his  blest  abode." 

There,  and  there  alone,  in  the  house  of  God,  not 
made  with  hands,  eternal  in  the  heavens,  having 
escaped  the  toils  and  temptations  of  the  earthly 
house  of  this  tabernacle,  we  shall  no  longer  groan, 
being  burdened.  The  statement  of  our  Church's  con- 
fession has,  not  only  a  positive  basis  in  the  Word 


THE  BURDEN  OF  THE  BODY.  147 

of  God,  but  a  negative  confirmation  also  in  Chris- 
tian experience.  "The  souls  of  believers  are,  at 
their  death,  made  perfect  in  holiness,  and  do  imme- 
diately pass  into  glory." 

I  close  this  imperfect  exposition  of  the  words  of 
the  Apostle  with  the  bare  statement  of  two  or  three 
inferences.  And  first,  the  text  reveals  to  us  the  real 
significance  of  our  present  life.  It  is  disciplinary. 
We  are  schooled  by  it  for  the  enjoyment  of  a  life  of 
perfect  holiness.  Were  this  not  true,  it  would  be 
hard  to  reconcile  it,  with  all  its  limitations  and  dis- 
appointments and  accidents  and  conflict,  with  the 
love  of  God  for  his  children.  And  if  we  would  live 
it  aright,  we  must  ever  keep  this  in  view.  We  must 
look  forward  to  the  end  of  it.  We  shall  find  its 
burdens  lighter,  and  our  groanings  fewer,  just  in 
the  proportion  in  which  we  look  forward  to  the 
house  not  made  with  hands,  eternal  in  the  heavens. 

The  text  helps  us,  also,  to  understand  the  Apos- 
tle's statement:  "For,  to  me,  to  die  is  gain."  Even 
if  we  think  of  death,  as  nothing  more  than  an  escape 
from  the  ills  of  a  life  in  the  body,  it  is  an  unspeak- 
able gain.  Even  though  we  knew  far  less  of  the 
future  state,  than  we  do  know,  through  the  revelation 
of  God  in  Christ;  to  know  that,  in  dying,  we  throw 
off  the  imprisonment  which  we  now  suffer ;  to  know 
that  we  are  freed  by  death,  from  the  weariness  and 
weakness,  which  here  oppress  us,  and  from  the  sin 
which  burdens  us,  were  enough  to  enable  us  to  un- 
derstand the  longing,  which  the  Apostle  felt  when  he 
wrote :  "  I  have  a  desire  to  depart,  and  to  be  with 
Christ." 

Moreover,  the  text  enables  us  to  discern  the  com- 
pleteness, which  shall  be  given  to  the  redemption 
of  man  by  the  resurrection  of  the  body.     The  hope 


148  SERMONS    ON   THE    CHRISTIAN    LIFE. 

of  the  resurrection;  "the  lively  hope  begotten  in 
us  by  the  resurrection  of  Christ  Jesus  from  the 
dead ! "  And  what  a  hope  it  is !  We  have  seen 
what  this  body  is  to  us  now;  in  every  aspect  of  it, 
a  tabernacle  in  which  we  groan,  being  burdened. 
God  promises  us  redemption  from  the  body.  He  tells 
us  that  it  shall  no  longer  burden  us;  that  He  will 
clothe  us  with  another  house,  eternal  in  the  heavens. 
But  we  love  these  bodies,  burdens  though  they  are. 
And  when  we  lay  those  of  our  Christian  friends  in 
the  earth,  we  grieve  and  murmur,  though  we  know 
that,  by  their  release  from  them,  they  have  gained 
immeasurably.  We  ask  whether  it  is  true,  that  sin 
has  conquered  the  body  finally,  though  the  soul  has 
escaped.  And,  in  no  uncertain  tones,  God's  Word 
says :  No !  Sin  has  not  finally  triumphed  over  the 
body.  "Now  is  Christ  risen  from  the  dead,  and  be- 
come the  first-fruits  of  them  that  slept."  This  body 
shall  be  saved  as  the  soul  is  saved.  It  shall  be  like 
the  risen  body  of  Christ.  Sown  in  weakness ;  it  shall 
be  raised  in  power.  Sown  in  a  natural  body;  it  shall 
be  raised  a  spiritual  body.  It  shall  no  longer  bur- 
den us;  but,  raised  in  glory,  shall  give  new  power 
to  the  transfigured  soul,  in  its  endless  life  of  love, 
of  labor,  and  of  praise. 

I  said,  at  the  beginning  of  this  sermon,  that  these 
words  of  Paul  were  addressed  to  Christians,  to  those 
whose  habit  of  mind  is  spiritual.  It  is  true  of  all 
men,  that  they  groan  in  this  tabernacle.  And  in 
these  days,  they  are  not  slow  to  confess  it.  A 
pessimistic  philosophy  asks  the  question,  confident 
that  only  a  negative  answer  can  be  given  :  "  Is  life 
worth  living?"  But  if  the  spiritual  habit  of  mind 
be  wanting,  what  gain  will  there  be  in  release  from 
the  body?     Death  is  gain  to  him  alone,  who  looks 


THE  BURDEN  OF  THE  BODY.  149 

at  the  unseen  and  eternal.  If  we  live,  "  looking  only 
at  the  seen  and  the  temporal;"  if  we  have  "the 
mind  of  the  flesh;"  if,  in  other  words,  we  are  not 
united  by  faith  to  the  Redeemer,  and  baptized  with 
the  Spirit,  the  dissolution  of  the  earthly  tabernacle 
is  the  loss  of  all  things.  And,  therefore,  now,  as 
always,  we  call  you  to  come  to  Christ. 


X. 

THE  RELATIONS  OF  RELIGION  AND 
BUSINESS. 

"  Not  slothful  in  business;  fervent  in  spirit;  serving  the 
Lord." — Romans  xii,  11. 

No  subject,  more  immediately  practical,  could  en- 
gage the  attention  of  a  Christian  congregation,  than 
the  relations  between  Christianity  and  business  pur- 
suits. I  use  the  phrase,  business  pursuits,  in  its 
largest  significance.  All  of  us  are  business  men  and 
women ;  we  buy  and  sell ;  we  touch  the  world  com- 
mercially. Out  of  this  fact  spring  certain  relations 
to  our  fellows;  and  it  is  to  the  demands  that  Chris- 
tianity makes  upon  us,  in  these  relations,  that  I  ask 
your  attention.  Though  my  theme,  therefore,  ought 
to  have  special  interest  for  those  who  are  distinct- 
ively business  men ;  all  of  us,  as  earning  wages  and 
spending  them,  or,  as  employing  our  powers  in  mak- 
ing money,  may  very  well  hear  what  the  religion 
of  Christ  has  to  say  on  this  subject. 

When  we  turn  to  the  New  Testament  for  instruc- 
tion, we  find  the  Saviour  intimating  the  presence 
of  peculiar  temptations,  in  the  conduct  of  a  life, 
whose  end  is  the  attainment  of  wealth ;  as  in  the 

(150) 


THE    RELATIONS    OF    RELIGION   AND    BUSINESS.      151 

words:  "How  hardly  shall  they  that  have  riches 
enter  into  the  kingdom  of  God."  And,  on  the 
other  hand,  we  find  his  Apostle,  exhorting  Chris- 
tians to  activity  in  business,  as  in  the  text:  "Not 
slothful  in  business ;  fervent  in  spirit ;  serving  the 
Lord."  We  find  him  teaching,  therefore,  that  there 
is  no  necessary  discord,  between  an  active  business 
and  a  sincere  and  devout  Christiau  life. 

If,  from  the  New  Testament,  we  turn  to  our  con- 
dition and  surroundings,  we  find  ourselves  part  of 
a  nation  more  actively  engaged  in  developing  its  re- 
sources by  mining,  and  manufactures,  and  commerce, 
than  perhaps  any  other;  and  members  of  one  of  the 
largest  manufacturing  communities  in  the  country. 
It  is  beyond  dispute,  I  think,  that  the  type  of  per- 
sonal Christianity  that  is  to  prevail  for  years  to 
come  in  the  United  States,  and  especially  in  com- 
munities like  this,  will  be  determined,  largely,  by  the 
commercial  character  of  the  people.  It  behooves  us, 
therefore,  from  time  to  time,  to  re-examine  the  teach- 
ings of  the  word  of  God  on  this  subject;  and  to 
gather  from  them,  a  picture  of  the  Christian  in  his 
business  life.  What  principles  should  guide  him  as 
a  Christian?  What  peculiar  temptations  beset  him? 
What  helps,  if  any,  are  there  in  his  goods  and  ac- 
counts, by  the  employment  of  which  he  can  more 
rapidly  grow  into  the  image  of  Christ.  The  subject 
is  as  large  as  it  is  important;  and  I  can  hope  to 
touch,  only  briefly,  on  aspects  of  it,  which  it  would 
be  instructive  to  treat  at  length. 

At  the  outset,  we  are  met  by  a  general  fact  of 
the  most  hopeful  character.  If  any  of  us  were 
asked,  in  what  nations,  to-day,  lies  the  hope  of  the 
world;  what  countries  are  most  active  in  their  en- 
deavors to  hasten  the  universal  triumph  of  Christianity, 


152  SERMONS    ON    THE    CHRISTIAN   LIFE. 

our  answer  would  undoubtedly  be,  that  among  the 
foremost,  at  least,  are  the  two  great  commercial  peo- 
ples of  Great  Britain  and  America.  So  far  as  prac- 
tical, aggressive  Christianity  is  concerned,  we  may, 
I  think,  without  doing  injustice  to  others,  assume 
that  these  two  are  doing — not  indeed  what  they 
should  do — but  a  large  proportion  of  the  Christian 
work  of  the  world.  If  this  fact  is  of  any  importance, 
it  shows  a  harmonious  relation  between  business  and 
religion.  It  encourages  the  belief,  that  there  is  an 
affinity,  rather  than  an  antagonism,  between  Chris- 
tianity and  mercantile  pursuits;  it  suggests  the 
probability,  that  those,  who  give  themselves  to  act- 
ive business  life,  do  not  find  such  a  life  more  full 
of  temptations  than  another  would  be;  it  teaches 
that  a  large  responsibility  rests  upon  them;  that 
we  have  a  right  to  expect  from  them  as  signal  illustra- 
tions of  the  graces,  which  constitute  personal  Chris- 
tianity, as  from  any  class  in  a  community;  and  that 
they,  of  all  men,  have  no  right  to  plead  as  an  excuse 
for  distorted  Christian  lives,  the  pursuits  in  which 
they  are  engaged.  But  it  is  not  my  intention,  to 
base  any  plea  I  may  have  to  make,  or  any  lesson  I 
may  wish  to  teach,  on  general  facts  like  this;  I  shall 
dwell  rather  on  those  great  principles  of  Christianity, 
which  all  Christians  profess  to  accept  as  the  rules 
of  their  daily  conduct. 

In  order  to  ascertain  the  relations  between  Christi- 
anity and  business,  we  must  first  of  all  place  clearly 
before  our  minds  the  meaning  of  the  word  Christi- 
anity, which  we  so  often,  and,  at  times,  so  loosely 
use.  What  is  Christianity?  If  I  put  the  question 
to  one,  ho  will  reply,  that  it  is  the  system  of  truth, 
revealed  by  God,  and  contained  in  the  Scriptures  of 
the  Old  and  New  Testaments.     If  1  put  it  to  an- 


THE  RELATIONS  OF    RELIGION    AND   BUSINESS.       153 

other,  the  reply  will  be,  that  it  is  union  with  one 
of  the  organizations  which  together  constitute  the 
Church  of*  Christ.  Still  another  will  define  it,  as  the 
one  true  method  of  the  soul's  worship  of  God. 
While  a  fourth  will  say,  that  it  is  the  embodiment 
of  the  highest  morality.  And  so  in  one,  whenever 
the  word  is  spoken,  the  dominant  thought  is  truth 
or  doctrine ;  in  another,  organization  or  Church ; 
in  another,  worship;  in  still  another,  morality  or 
character. 

Now,  though  each  of  these  views  is  partial,  each 
one  emphasizes  an  element,  necessary  to  the  ade- 
quate definition  of  Christianity.  There  is  no  Chris- 
tianity without  truth  accepted ;  none  without  work, 
which  instinctively  seeks  organization  that  flowers 
out  into  the  Church;  none  without  worship  engaged 
in,  whose  one  object  is  God;  and  none  without  a 
character,  formed  upon  Jesus  Christ,  the  Christian 
example  of  morality.  I  do  not  undertake  to  say  what 
detailed  articles  one  must  accept  in  order  to  Christian- 
ity ;  or  how  close  must  be  his  relation  to  the  Church, 
and  with  what  organization  he  must  be  allied;  or 
what  must  be  the  method  of  his  approach  to  God ; 
or  how  far  advanced  in  character  he  must  be.  This 
were  to  go  a  length,  which  the  Scriptures  do  not 
warrant.  But  the  Scriptures  do  warrant  us  in  affirm- 
ing the  necessity  of  acceptance  of  the  truth;  when 
they  call  the  Christian  "a  believer."  They  justify 
us  in  bringing  the  Church  into  the  description ; 
when  they  speak  of  him  as  a  subject  of  the  "King- 
dom of  God,"  and  a  member  of  the  "  Body  of  Christ." 
They  make  it  necessary  for  us  to  include  the  idea 
of  worship;  for  they  themselves  continually  dwell 
upon  his  relations  to  God.  And  as  for  character; 
the   very  end  of  truth,   and   church,  and   worship, 


154  SERMONS   ON    THE    CHRISTIAN   LIFE. 

bo  far  as  man  and  this  world  are  concerned,  is  to 
create  in  him  a  perfect  character;  the  image  of  the 
perfect  man,  Christ  Jesus.  Now  if  any  one  of  us  has 
been  honestly  perplexed,  as  to  the  relations  between 
Christianity  and  business  life;  if  any  one  has  been 
seriously  disturbed  by  the  question :  "  How  am  I  to 
be  a  Christian  business  man?"  it  is  not  at  all  im- 
probable, that  the  perplexity  has  arisen,  because  of  a 
too  great  emphasis,  relatively,  of  one  of  these  ele- 
ments of  the  definition,  and  a  corresponding  depres- 
sion of  the  others. 

For  example,  we  can  easily  conceive  of  one,  before 
whose  mind  Christianity  stands  forth  most  promi- 
nently as  a  system  of  truth,  to  be  believed,  and  pro- 
claimed, and  defended ;  and  who  puts  out  of  sight, 
or  at  least  throws  into  the  background,  all  the  other 
elements  of  a  true  definition  of  Christianity.  Hold- 
ing fast  to  this  one  thought  of  truth,  of  doctrine; 
and  depressing  other  essential  elements;  as  organized 
work  for  men,  the  outgoing  of  the  soul  in  worship 
to  God,  and  the  growth  of  the  whole  man  in  a 
character  like  that  of  Christ;  it  is  evident  that  his 
Christianity  will  resolve  itself  into  mere  orthodoxy; 
the  acceptance  and  defense  of  certain  statements, 
found  in,  or  inferred  from  the  word  of  God.  It  is 
perfectly  plain,  that  such  a  view  of  our  holy  religion 
must  tend  to  make  faith  less  and  less  an  act  of  the 
whole  man,  and  more  and  more  an  exercise  of  the 
understanding  alone;  until  finally  the  man  will  stand 
as  the  exponent  of  a  mere  intellectual  statement. 
The  relations  between  such  a  man's  business  and  his 
religion,  can  not  be  very  many  or  very  intimate. 
Whatever  time  he  gives  to  business  life;  he  must 
take  from  the  defense,  or  contemplation,  or  study 
of  the  truth.     The  bringing  of  his  religion  into  busi- 


THE    RELATIONS    OF    RELIGION    AND    BUSINESS.      155 

ness  will  be,  solely,  the  use  of  the  results  of  his  busi- 
ness labors,  for  the  propagation  of  the  truths,  that 
for  him  constitute  Christianity.  Nothing  more  than 
this.  And  no  one  needs  to  be  told,  that  this  is  far 
from  fulfilling  the  exhortation  of  the  Apostle:  "Not 
slothful  in  business;  fervent  in  spirit;  serving  the 
Lord." 

So,  too,  with  one  who,  in  his  conception  of  Chris- 
tianity emphasizes  the  idea  of  Church,  and  work  for 
an  organization,  to  the  almost  entire  seclusion  of  the 
other  elements,  included  in  the  term  Christianity. 
The  world  has  never  been  without  such  religionists. 
The  idea  of  the  Church  is  a  sublime  idea.  The 
visible  Kingdom  of  which  the  Lord  Christ  is  mon- 
arch; the  living  temple  built  upon  the  foundation 
of  the  apostles  and  prophets,  Jesus  himself  being 
the  chief  corner-stone!  But  it  was  the  uplifting  of 
this  truth,  and  the  depression  of  all  the  other  ele- 
ments of  religion,  that  bred  the  Pharaseeism,  which 
called  forth  such  indignant  denunciations  from  Christ. 
And  the  relations  of  business  with  religion  in  such  a 
view  of  Christianity,  is  well  suggested  in  Christ's 
own  descriptions  of  those,  who,  compassing  sea  and 
land  to  make  a  proselyte,  are  yet  able  to  devour 
widow's  houses. 

Or  here  is  another,  to  whom  the  term  Christianity 
stands  exclusively  for  worship;  the  communion  of 
man  with  God;  and  all  the  joys  of  such  communion. 
One  of  the  most  inspiring  truths,  which  the  Word 
of  God  reveals,  is  that  man  can  commune  with  God; 
that  not  only  is  God  the  hearer  of  prayer,  but  that 
He  communes  with  his  people;  that  there  is  a  man- 
ifestation of  Himself  to  them.  But  when  this  thought, 
great  and  blessed  as  it  is,  so  takes  possession  of  a 
man,  as  to  exclude  all    other  elements   of  religion, 


156  SERMONS    ON    THE    CHRISTIAN   LIFE. 

the  result  must  be  a  degeneration  of  the  religious 
life,  until  it  becomes  a  life  of  mere  emotions  aud 
excitements ;  in  whose  frequent  recurrence  truth  is 
forgotten,  and  character  is  weakened,  and  work  for 
God  and  man  neglected.  Surely,  such  a  Christianity 
has  no  place  in  the  midst  of  the  labors  and  engross- 
ments of  business  life. 

Or  take  the  man  who,  ignoring  doctrine,  church 
and  worship,  regards  Christianity  as  morality  alone, 
in  his  relations  to  his  fellows.  There  is  a  tendency 
in  us  all  to  adopt  the  view,  that,  "to  do  justly,  and 
hurt  nobody,  and  to  render  to  every  man  his  clue," 
is  the  sum  of  the  Gospel,  and  that  all  else  is  but 
instrumental;  that  truth,  work,  and  worship  are 
means  of  which  the  end  is  this  character.  And, 
undoubtedly  it  is  true,  so  far  as  man's  life  here  is 
concerned,  that  the  end,  at  once,  of  the  truth  which 
the  Bible  reveals,  of  the  Church  which  it  makes 
known,  and  of  the  worship  which  it  enjoins,  is  the 
development  of  a  character,  like  that  of  Christ  him- 
self. But  such  is  the  tendency  in  man  to  narrow- 
ness, that  he,  who  fixes  his  regards  on  character 
alone,  ignoring  these  essential  aids  to  its  attainment, 
will  insensibly  lower  his  ideal;  and,  robbing  it  of 
one,  and  another,  of  its  traits,  will,  at  the  last,  sub- 
stitute, for  the  divine  ideal,  the  ideal  of  mere  hon- 
esty in  business  transactions;  of  which  honesty, 
however  much  may  be  said  in  its  praise,  this  can 
not  be  said;  that  it  fulfills  all  the  relations  between 
religion  and  business,  as  these  are  suggested  in  the 
words  of  the  Apostle:  "Not  slothful  in  business; 
fervent  in  spirit;  serving  the  Lord." 

Before  we  can  state  adequately  the  truth  concern- 
ing the  relation  of  these  two  lives — the  Christian  life 
on  the  one  hand,  and  business    life  on  the  other — 


THE    RELATIONS    OF    RELIGION    AND    BUSINESS.      157 

we  mnst  grasp  Christianity  in  its  entirety.  We  must 
remember  that  the  truth,  the  Church,  worship,  and 
character,  all  belong  to  it.  No  man  goes  to  his  busi- 
ness life  as  a  Christian  should,  who  does  not  carry 
with  him  these  four  great  thoughts.  No  one  will 
conduct  his  daily  business  as  a  Christian  should — 
who,  in  his  conduct  of  it,  is  not  controlled  by  the 
truths  God's  word  reveals,  by  the  fact  that  he  is  a 
member  of  Christ's  Church,  by  his  worship  of  and 
communion  with  God,  and  by  the  character  which, 
as  a  Christian,  he  is  seeking  to  attain.  And  we  shall 
best  ascertain  the  relations  of  Christianity  and  busi- 
ness life  by  placing  before  our  minds  the  influence, 
which  these  elements  of  our  religion  are  severally 
designed  to  exert. 

I.  Taking  them  up  in  the  order  in  which  I  have 
already  named  them,  and  premising  that,  within  the 
limits  of  a  single  sermon,  I  can  hope  to  do  no  more 
than  state,  not  the  whole,  but  the  single  character- 
istic influence  of  each  of  them, — what,  let  us  ask, 
is  the  legitimate  influence,  in  a  business  life,  of  the 
great  body  of  distinctly  Christian  truths  which  the 
Christian  accepts?  I  am  speaking  now  of  truth  that 
is  distinctively  Christian ;  not  the  history  or  the  mo- 
rality of  the  Word  of  God,  but  that  which  is  dis- 
tinctive of  the  Bible — its  revelations.  What  should 
be  the  influence  of  these,  on  the  Christian,  in  his 
pursuit  of  wealth?  And  the  answer  must  be  a  re- 
straining influence.  It  should  be  to  moderate  his 
desires,  to  hold  back  his  hands  from  a  too  eager 
grasp  of  the  riches  which  it  is  the  end  of  business 
to  obtain.  This  influence  of  the  distinctive  truths, 
revealed  in  the  Word  of  God,  is  brought  out,  in 
connection  with  the  statement  of  one  of  them,  in  an 
exhortation  of  St.  Paul  to  the  Church  at  Philippi : 


158  SERMONS    ON   THE    CHRISTIAN   LIFE. 

"  Let  your  moderation  be  known  unto  all  men.  The 
Lord  is  at  hand."  For  consider,  what  is  the  char- 
acter of  this  body  of  distinctly  Christian  truth.  It 
relates  immediately,  not  to  the  seen,  but  to  the 
invisible  world:  to  the  immortality  of  man;  the  eter- 
nal life  of  destiny;  the  infinite  value  of  the  soul;  the 
life  which  is  more  than  meat;  a  meat  and  drink 
which  is  to  do  the  will  of  our  Father  in  heaven 
and  to  finish  his  work;  a  glory  with  which  the  suf- 
ferings of  this  present  time  are  not  worthy  to  be 
compared;  a  God  in  whose  image  man  is  created, 
and  who  is  our  Governor,  Father,  Redeemer  and 
Judge.  These  are  the  subjects  about  which  the  Word 
of  God  makes  special  revelations.  And  therefore  we 
find  upon  its  pages  such  solemn  questions,  as:  "What 
shall  it  profit  a  man,  though  he  gain  the  whole 
world,  and  lose  his  soul?"  and  such  exhortations, as: 
"  Seek  ye  first  the  kingdom  of  God  and  his  right- 
eousness, and  all  these  things  shall  be  added  unto 
you;"  "If  ye  then  be  risen  with  Christ,  set  your 
affection  on  things  which  are  above,  where  Christ 
sitteth  at  the  right  hand  of  God ; "  and  such  descrip- 
tions of  the  Christian  life,  as:  "We  look  not  at  the 
things  which  are  seen  and  temporal,  but  at  the  things 
which  are  not  seen  and  eternal."  The  Christian  is 
a  believer  of  this  great  body  of  truth,  that  relates 
to  sin,  to  salvation,  to  God,  to  judgment  and  eternal 
life.  If  he  does  not  believe  it,  he  has  no  right  to 
the  distinctive  name  of  Christian. 

But  such  is  the  constitution  of  the  world  in  which 
he  lives,  and  such  are  his  own  condition  and  wants, 
that  it  is  absolutely  necessary  for  him  to  labor  in 
some  business,  whose  end  is  the  possession  of  money. 
But  what  an  influence  must  this  spiritual  truth  that 
he  believes  exert  in  abating  his  desire  for  wealth ! 


THE    RELATIONS    OF    RELIGION   AND    BUSINESS.      159 

How  little,  in  view  of  it,  must  earthly  possessions 
seem.  If  he  has,  indeed,  tasted  of  the  good  Word  of 
God,  and  the  powers  of  the  world  to  come,  his  mod- 
eration will  be  known  unto  all  men.  I  do  not  for- 
get that  man  has  bodily  wants  and  a  social  nature 
and  tastes  which  not  only  may,  but,  within  limits 
not  easily  defined,  should  be  cultivated  and  gratified. 
God  has  given  us  the  power  of  perceiving,  and  the 
feeling  of  joy  in  the  beautiful;  and  He  has  so  adorned 
the  world  in  which  we  live,  as  to  call  out  the  power 
and  excite  the  feeling.  It  can  not  be  contrary  to 
his  will,  therefore,  to  gratify  our  love  of  beauty, 
if  we  hold  it  subordinate  to  that  love  of  holiness 
which  is  the  new  man's  true  crown.  And  yet, 
it  is  also  true  that  he,  whose  faith  in  the  distinct- 
ive truth  of  God's  Word  is  living;  who,  there- 
fore, has  his  regard  fixed  on  God  and  life  eternal, 
will  tone  down  his  passion  for  time's  wealth,  and 
beauty  and  pleasures.  Just  this  is  the  legitimate 
influence  of  faith  in  Christian  truth  upon  business 
life.  The  Christian  man  of  business  will  not  leave 
these  revelations  out  of  account,  when  laying  plans 
for  the  business  of  the  year  or  the  business  of  life. 
The  desire  for  wealth  will  abate,  in  proportion  as  his 
mind  is  fixed  on  the  things  that  are  unseen  and  eter- 
nal. Here  is  one  point  of  contact  between  Chris- 
tianity and  business  life.  He  may  be  not  slothful  in 
business;  he  may  be  active,  and  absorbed.  But  he 
will  be  more  fervent  in  spirit,  serving  the  Lord,  than 
feverish  in  his  anxieties  for  the  riches  that  make  to 
themselves  wings  and  fly  toward  heaven. 

If  we  could  affirm  no  other  influence  of  this  great 
body  of  truth  which  God  has  revealed  to  us,  on 
its  believers,  than  the  abatement  of  the  fiery  haste 
to  be  rich,  so  characteristic  of  our  people   to-day, 


160  SERMONS    ON    THE    CHRISTIAN   LIFE. 

what  an  unspeakable  blessing  this  revelation  would 
still  be !  This  feverish  haste,  begotten  of  exceptional 
opportunities — can  any  one  be  blind  to  the  fact  that 
it  is  destroying  the  higher  life  of  thousands?  How 
earnestly  do  all  of  us — for  there  is  not  one  of  us 
who  is  not  affected  by  the  atmosphere  we  breathe — 
need  to  pray:  "Lord,  increase  our  faith  in  the  great 
truths  of  thy  Word ; "  knowing  that  a  vital  faith  in 
these  truths  is  the  one  medicine  that  can  cure  this 
terrible  fever,  which  is  consuming  the  spiritual  life 
of  so  many  of  our  fellow-men. 

II.  The  first  element  of  Christianity,  then,  is  the 
truth  revealed  and  believed;  and  its  influence  on  busi- 
ness life  is  to  moderate  the  desire  for  wealth.  The 
second  element  of  the  definition  of  Christianity,  we 
found  to  be  the  Church.  The  Christian  is  not  only  a 
believer  of  truth,  he  is  also  a  subject  of  the  Kingdom, 
a  member  of  the  Church  of  Christ.  The  truth  revealed 
must  be  proclaimed;  and  this  is  the  distinctive  mis- 
sion of  the  Church.  "Go  ye  into  all  the  world  and 
preach  the  Gospel  to  every  creature."  The  influ- 
ence of  the  thought  of  the  Church  on  the  Christian 
in  business  life,  is  very  different  from  the  influence 
which  faith  in  the  truths  just  referred  to  exerts.  The 
influence  of  such  faith,  as  we  have  seen,  is  to  mod- 
erate the  desire  for  wealth  as  a  personal  possession. 
But  the  Church,  by  giving  a  new  object,  intensifies 
his  labors  for  wealth.  But  for  the  thought  of  the 
Church  and  his  relation  to  it,  it  is  conceivable  that 
a  Christian,  full  of  faith  in  God's  word,  might  retire 
from  the  competitions  and  excitements  of  business 
life.  But  remembering  the  Church,  and  his  relation 
to  it;  remembering  the  words  of  his  Master:  "As 
thou,  Father,  hast  sent  me  into  the  world,  even 
so  have  I  sent  them  into  the  world,"  the  believing 


THE    RELATIONS    OF    RELIGION    AND    BUSINESS.      161 

disciple  returns  to  his  labors,  and  works  more  vigor- 
ously for  wealth  and  influence  iu  the  interest  of 
the  Kingdom  of  Christ.  So  the  influence  of  the 
truth,  and  the  influence  of  the  Church  on  his  business 
life,  modify  and  balance  one  another.  The  labors, 
which  in  the  light  of  the  truths  alone  were  excess- 
ive and  harmful,  become  religious  duties  in  view 
of  the  mission  of  the  Church  of  God.  In  this  way, 
business  life  is  sanctified;  and  money-getting,  so  it 
be  honest,  being  labor  for  God  and  man,  is  more 
than  right;  it  is  holy,  and  well-pleasing  to  God. 

We  call  ourselves  Christians.  "We  profess  to  be- 
lieve the  truths  which  our  Lord  has  revealed,  and  to 
belong  to  the  Church  that  He  loved,  and  for  which 
He  gave  Himself.  Do  we  indeed  believe  the  truths; 
are  we  indeed  members  of  that  Church  which  is  to 
conquer  the  world  for  Him?  If  the  Church  had  faith 
in  Christian  truth  and  Christ's  Kingdom,  such  as 
Christ  described:  faith  as  a  grain  of  mustard-seed — 
the  seed  which,  below  the  light  and  sun,  yet,  re- 
sponsive to  the  powers  of  heaven,  pushes  through 
the  clods  that  vainly  seek  to  hold  it;  and,  by  the 
power  of  its  life,  breaks  not  the  sod  alone,  but  nature's 
great  law  of  gravitation,  and  rising  higher,  and  push- 
ing out  on  every  hand,  becomes  the  great  spreading 
tree,  on  whose  branches  the  fowls  of  the  air  find  shel- 
ter;— had  the  Church,  I  say,  faith  like  this  in  the  great 
truths  of  God's  Word  and  in  the  Kingdom  of  God, 
with  what  quickened  industry  would  its  members — 
their  desires  for  personal  wealth  abated — still  labor  for 
riches,  that  they  might  be  laid  upon  the  altar  for  the 
redemption  of  their  fellow-men.  When  Christianity 
shall  so  mold  business  life;  when  the  missionary 
spirit  shall  animate  business  pursuits;  who  can  doubt 
that  the  world  will  again  feel  the  throes  of  a  new 


162  SERMONS    ON    THE    CHRISTIAN   LIFE. 

awakening;  that  nations  will  be  born  in  a  day,  and 
the  kingdoms  of  the  world  become  the  Kingdom  of 
our  Lord?  But,  because  there  is  apathy  in  the 
Church  at  large,  we  are  not  relieved  of  our  respon- 
sibility to  Christ.  To  every  congregation  of  Chris- 
tians, as  well  as  to  the  whole  body  of  believers — 
nay,  to  every  disciple — come  the  words  of  God: 
"Bring  ye  all  the  tithes  into  the  store-house,  that 
there  may  be  meat  in  mine  house,  and  prove  me  now 
herewith,  saith  the  Lord  of  hosts,  if  I  will  not  open 
}rou  the  windows  of  heaven,  and  pour  you  out  a 
blessing,  that  there  shall  not  be  room  enough  to 
receive  it." 

III.  But  Christianity  is  not  only  belief  of  the 
truth  of  God,  and  union  with  the  Church  of  God. 
We  found  a  third  essential  element,  to  be  worship 
of  and  communion  with  God.  Christ  came  as  the 
new  and  living  way  to  the  Father.  The  Christian 
has  thus  the  assurance  that  God  is  near  to  him, 
and  is  ready  to  reveal  Himself  to  the  believer.  The 
Christian  consciousness  is  a  consciousness  of  God. 
This  is  a  great  mystery ;  but  great  must  be  the  mys- 
tery of  Godliness.  Now  what  is  the  relation  of 
Christianity,  in  this  aspect  of  it,  to  business  life?  I 
answer,  that  as  the  belief  of  God's  revealed  truth  must 
abate  the  feverish  anxiety  for  personal  possession, 
on  the  one  hand,  and  the  thought  of  the  Church 
must,  on  the  other  hand,  excite  him  to  new  labors 
for  wealth  to  be  used  for  the  world  and  Christ;  the 
communion  of  the  soul  with  God  allays  the  anxiety, 
which  the  Christian's  new  labor  in  his  business  for 
the  Church,  is  calculated  to  awaken.  In  the  thought 
of  his  responsibility,  as  belonging  to  the  Church 
whose  mission  it  is  to  conquer  the  world  for  Christ, 
is  ground  for  anxiety,  lest  his  labors  may  not  suf- 


THE    RELATIONS  OF  RELIGION   AND    BUSINESS.      163 

fice  for  the  work  to  which  he  is  called.  But  when 
to  this  is  joined  the  thought  of  God,  above  the 
Church,  yet  always  with  the  Church,  supplement- 
ing its  gifts  from  the  stores  of  his  infinite  fullness ; 
and  this  in  the  measure,  not  of  the  gifts  themselves, 
but  of  the  consecration  they  represent;  the  Chris- 
tian labors  in  his  daily  calling  with  an  unanxious 
heart;  rejoicing  in  the  presence  and  the  power  of  the 
God,  who  has  already  so  blessed  the  two  mites  of  the 
widow,  and  the  alabaster  box  of  ointment,  that  they 
have  not  lost  their  power,  and  will  not,  until  all  men 
shall  rejoice  in  his  redemption. 

IV.  We  found  the  last  essential  element  of  per- 
sonal Christianity  to  be  character.  The  complete 
definition  includes,  not  only  the  belief  of  truths  re- 
vealed, union  with  the  Church  of  Christ,  and  commun- 
ion of  the  soul  with  God,  but,  also,  the  possession  of 
a  character  formed  on  that  of  Christ  and  daily  grow- 
ing more  and  more  like  his.  Do  you  ask  the  rela- 
tion of  Christianity,  in  this  last  aspect  of  it,  to  business 
life  ?  I  answer,  that  while  the  influence  of  the  pre- 
ceding elements  is  exerted  mainly  in  determining  the 
mission,  and  in  tempering  the  anxieties  of  business 
life,  the  influence  of  this  last  element  is  to  be  looked 
for,  most  of  all,  in  the  daily  conduct  of  business.  If 
one,  remembering  that  Christianity  means  a  growing 
likeness  to  Christ,  would  do  business  in  this  world 
as  a  Christian,  he  must  conduct  it  on  principles  of 
the  loftiest  morality.  I  say,  of  the  loftiest  morality. 
Christ  came  as  the  example  and  embodiment  of  such 
morality.  And  if  you  ask  what  this  means  in  de- 
tail; I  answer,  that  it  means  a  spotless  integrity, 
a  determination,  with  God's  help,  in  spite  of  what- 
ever surroundings  of  another  character,  to  do  noth- 
ing, to  say  nothing  that  would   justify  the   slight- 


164  SERMONS    ON    THE    CHRISTIAN    LIFE. 

est  suspicion  of  dishonesty;  a  morality  like  his 
"  whose  eye,  e'en  turned  on  empty  space,  beams  keen 
with  honor;"  a  morality  which,  in  every  transac- 
tion, with  buyer  and  seller,  with  employer  and  em- 
ployed, from  day  to  day,  and  from  year  to  year,  finds 
its  rule  in  those  golden  words  of  the  Master:  "  There- 
fore all  things,  whatsoever  ye  would  that  men  should 
do  unto  you,  do  ye  even  so  to  them ;  for  this  is  the 
law  and  the  prophets." 

Christian  friends,  I  have  thus  endeavored,  fairly 
and  faithfully,  to  take  up  the  essential  elements  of 
our  holy  religion,  and,  describing  their  legitimate 
influence  in  business  life,  to  make  plain  the  meaning 
of  those  words  we  hear  so  often :  a  "  Christian  man 
of  business."  Is  there  one  before  me  who  is  dis- 
posed to  respond  to  what  I  have  said:  "But  you 
have  presented  an  ideal  too  lofty,  one  that  is  unat- 
tainable"? I  reply,  it  is  the  ideal  of  the  word  of 
God.  And  if  it  is  lofty,  it  is  not  too  lofty  for  a 
religion  whose  example  is  Christ,  and  whose  end  is 
the  restored  image  of  God.  It  is  true  that  you  may 
not  attain  it  at  once ;  the  week  of  work  on  which  you 
will  enter  to-morrow  may  be  full  of  temptations,  and 
once,  and  again,  and  again,  you  may  fall  far  below 
your  new  ideal.  But  should  you  fall,  remember  that 
the  Lord  turned  and  looked  on  fallen  Peter,  and,  like 
Peter,  go  out  penitent  to  new  labors  for  the  Master 
and  the  world.  You  are  bound  by  the  profession 
you  have  made,  to  hold  this  ideal  in  full  view  each 
day  you  live,  and,  with  Paul,  to  say:  "I  count  not 
myself  to  have  apprehended,  but  this  one  thing  I  do, 
forgetting  the  things  which  are  behind,  and  reach- 
ing forth  unto  those  that  are  before,  I  press  toward 
the  mark  for  the  prize  of  the  high  calliug  of  God  in 
Christ  Jesus  my  Lord." 


T-HE    RELATIONS    OF    RELIGION    AND    BUSINESS.      165 

There  may  be  those  before  me  who  feel  that  these 
words  are  not  for  them,  because  they  have  not  taken 
the  Christian  name.  To  whom,  then,  are  you  giving 
the  labors  of  your  business  life?  What  is  the  end 
of  your  striving  after  wealth?  Because  you  have 
not  confessed  Christ,  think  you  that  Christ  has  not 
the  same  claims  on  you  that  he  has  on  those,  who, 
in  obedience  to  his  commands  and  with  much  trem- 
bling, have  taken  his  name  and  service  as  their 
own?  The  same  Lord  who  has  given  talents  to 
them,  has  given  talents  to  you ;  and  though  you 
may  not  acknowledge  Him,  I  repeat  the  truth  He 
teaches  when  I  say,  that  of  you  as  of  them,  He 
will  at  his  coming  require  his  own  with  usury.  May 
God  teach  all  of  us,  that  it  is  the  Lord's  talents  we 
are  using;  and  so  guide  us  in  the  use  of  them,  that 
each  at  last  shall  hear  the  blessed  words :  "  Well  done, 
good  and  faithful  servant,  thou  hast  been  faithful 
over  a  few  things,  I  will  make  thee  ruler  over  many 
things;  enter  thou  into  the  joy  of  thy  Lord." 


XI. 

THE  VALUE  OF  A  RELIGIOUS  ATMOS- 
PHERE. 

"And  Saul  went  thither  to  Naioth  in  Ramah:  and  the  Spirit 
of  God  was  upon  him  also,  and  he  went  on,  and  prophesied, 
until  he  came  to  Naioth  in  Ramah." — I.  Samuel  xix,  23. 

In  order  to  bring  clearly  before  our  minds  the 
single  subject,  on  which  I  wish  to  speak  from  these 
words,  it  will  be  necessary  briefly  to  recall  the  narra- 
tive from  which  they  are  taken.  The  envy  of  David's 
popularity,  felt  by  Saul,  and  the  fear,  which  the  mon- 
arch could  not  conceal,  that  the  conqueror  of  the 
Philistine  might  usurp  the  throne,  had  for  some  time 
been  growing  in  strength,  and  had  already  shown 
themselves  in  acts  of  violence.  At  last,  Saul's  deter- 
mination to  put  an  end  to  David's  life  became  so 
ungovernable,  that  he  disclosed  his  purpose,  not  only 
to  his  servants,  but  to  Jonathan  his  son,  and  com- 
manded them  to  aid  him  in  his  capture.  But  the 
friendship  of  Jonathan  for  David  led  not  only  to 
the  latter's  escape,  but  also  to  a  reconciliation  with 
Saul;  so  that  we  are  told,  that  Jonathan  induced 
the  king  to  swear:  "As  the  Lord  liveth  he  shall  not 
be  slain."     And  Jonathan  brought  David  into  Saul's 

(166) 


THE    VALUE    OF    A    RELIGIOUS    ATMOSPHERE.        167 

presence;  and  he  was  there,  as  in  times  past.  But 
war  between  Israel  and  the  Philistines  having  been 
renewed,  a  new  opportunity  for  the  display  of  his 
skill  and  valor  was  given  to  David.  He  went  out 
and  fought  with  the  Philistines,  and  slew  them  with 
a  great  slaughter,  and  they  fled  from  him.  Very 
naturally,  the  people  of  the  kingdom  were  loud  in 
their  praises  of  the  son  of  Jesse,  as  before  they  had 
been,  when,  single-handed,  he  met  and  conquered  the 
chosen  champion  of  their  foes.  And  the  song  must 
have  been  repeated  which  rang  upon  the  air  at  the 
death  of  Goliath :  "  Saul  hath  slain  his  thousands, 
and  David  his  ten  thousands."  All  this  was  so 
chafing  to  the  envious  monarch,  that  he  either  for- 
got, or  purposely  violated  his  oath  to  Jonathan,  and 
again  sought  to  compass  David's  death.  But  with 
the  aid  of  Michal  his  wife,  who  was  the  daughter 
of  the  king,  David  again  escaped  Saul's  vengeance, 
and  fled  to  Naioth  in  Ramah. 

Now  Naioth  was  the  home  of  the  prophets  of  the 
Lord.  It  was  the  seat  of  a  school  of  the  prophets, 
over  which  the  aged  and  devout  Samuel  presided. 
For  the  purposes  of  this  sermon,  it  is  necessary  only 
to  say  of  these  schools,  that  they  were  the  great 
centers  of  the  moral  and  religious  influence  exerted 
on  the  kingdom  of  Israel.  David  fled  to  this  school 
at  Naioth,  no  doubt,  because  of  his  intimate  rela- 
tions with  its  great  leader,  Samuel.  Of  Samuel's 
character  and  influence,  I  need  to  say  but  little. 
How  pure  was  the  life,  how  great  and  beneficent  was 
his  influence,  how  commanding  was  his  personal 
presence,  how  he  held  Israel  during  the  change  from 
the  government  by  Judges  to  the  Monarchy — all 
know  who  are,  in  the  least  degree,  familiar  with  the 
history  of  the  times.     Before  this  man  David  always 


168  SERMONS    ON    THE    CHRISTIAN    LIFE. 

bowed  in  reverence,  and  Saul  always  crouched  in 
fear.  It  is  not  surprising,  that  his  own  religious 
habit  of  life  gave  character  both  to  the  schools  he 
instituted,  and  to  the  places  in  which  the  schools 
were  established.  A  religious  atmosphere  surrounded 
Naioth;  as  an  intellectual  atmosphere  surrounds  a 
university  town;  as  a  commercial  atmosphere  envel- 
ops London  or  New  York.  Men  found  it  difficult 
not  to  think  of  religion  in  Naioth,  just  as  men  find 
it  hard  not  to  think  of  learning  in  Oxford,  or  not  to 
be  full  of  thoughts  of  business  amid  the  noises  of 
Broadway  or  Wall  Street.  So  impressive  and  influ- 
ential, so  all-compelling  was  this  religious  atmos- 
phere in  Naioth,  that  no  one  entered  the  gates  of  the 
city  without  feeling  it  deeply  and  at  once. 

To  this  town  of  Naioth,  to  the  school  of  the 
prophets,  and  to  Samuel's  presence,  did  David  flee 
from  the  power  and  hate  of  his  royal  foe.  And, 
whether  or  not  he  had  calculated  upon  it,  it  soon 
became  apparent  that  he  could  not  have  selected  a 
better  refuge.  Not,  indeed,  that  its  material  defenses 
were  better  than  those  of  other  places ;  for  he  might 
have  found  a  more  impregnable  position  in  the 
strongholds  at  Engedi,  or  a  safer  covert  in  the  Cave 
of  Adullam.  But,  for  a  reason  which  will  presently 
appear,  Naioth,  though  open  to  the  king's  messen- 
gers and  to  the  vengeful  king  himself,  stood  the 
fugitive  in  better  stead  than  any  other  place  could 
have  done  at  this  time.  For  when  it  was  told  Saul 
that  David  had  fled  to  Naioth ;  and  Saul,  in  his 
wrath,  sent  messengers  to  take  him,  they  came;  but 
entering  the  city,  the  religious  spirit  seized  upon 
them;  and  they,  who  had  come  upon  a  message  of 
blood,  began  to  pray  and  prophesy.  Again  he  sent 
messengers;    but    they    also    failed    to   capture    the 


THE    VALUE    OF    A    RELIGIOUS    ATMOSPHERE.         169 

fugitive;  not  because  the  fugitive  had  fled,  but  be- 
cause they  too  began  to  prophesy  in  Naioth.  A 
third  time  the  monarch  sent  a  company  to  take  him ; 
and  on  this  third  company  the  religious  spirit  of 
the  place  descended,  and  David  was  safe  from  their 
hands,  because  they  fell  under  its  influence.  Then 
Saul  himself  arose ;  his  wrath  against  David  increased 
by  the  repeated  failures  to  arrest  him.  No  doubt,  he 
determined  that  no  influence  should  keep  him  from 
his  victim.  In  anger  he  went  to  Ramah;  and  coming 
to  a  well  at  Sechu,  halted  and  demanded,  as  king, 
to  know  where  Samuel  and  David  were.  And  when 
one  said:  "Behold,  they  be  at  Naioth/'  he  went 
there.  All  aflame  with  wrath,  he  entered  the  city. 
But  David  was  safe,  because  the  Spirit  came  also  on 
the  king;  and,  like  his  messengers  before  him,  he 
went  on  and  prophesied.  Indeed,  so  overcome  was  he, 
that  he  abased  himself  before  the  aged  leader  of  the 
school,  and  lay  down  naked  all  that  day  and  all  that 
night.  Wherefore,  men  said:  "Is  Saul  also  among 
the  prophets?" 

Without  attempting  to  separate  the  natural  from 
the  miraculous  in  the  narrative,  you  will  be  pre- 
pared, at  once,  for  the  subject  it  suggests,  and  of 
which  it  is  so  striking  an  illustration.  I  mean  that, 
which,  for  want  of  a  better  name,  we  may  call  the 
religious  atmosphere — the  natural,  spontaneous  relig- 
ious outgoing  of  the  place.  It  was  no  purposely  ex- 
ercised influence  upon  Saul — so  far  as  we  can  gather 
from  the  narrative — that  led  the  king  to  withhold 
violence  from  David,  or  that  induced  him  to  prophesy. 
No  one  remonstrated  with  him.  There  was  no  special 
power  exerted  to  restrain  his  body  or  to  constrain 
his  soul.  The  moment,  however,  he  came  within 
reach  of  the  immanent  influences  of  Naioth,  he  vol- 


170  SERMONS    ON    THE    CHRISTIAN    LIFE. 

untarily  desisted  from  the  execution  of  his  murder- 
ous intent; — and  not  only  so,  but  he  caught  the  re- 
ligious spirit  of  the  place,  and  prophesied  before 
Samuel  and  before  the  Lord. 

I.  I  say  that  it  was  the  religious  atmosphere  of  the 
place  which  exerted  so  great  an  influence  upon  the 
king  of  Israel.  I  call  it  atmosphere,  because  that  best 
defines,  or,  rather,  describes  it.  You  all  know  what 
I  mean  by  the  term.  We  use  it  in  common  conver- 
sation to  designate  that  unconscious  influence  which 
men  exert — nay,  which  they  can  not  help  exerting, 
and  exerting  always — which  they  bear  with  them 
everywhere;  which  is  both  the  outcome  and  the 
surrounding  of  their  personality.  We  speak  famil- 
iarly of  the  air  of  a  man — that  he  has  a  "  chilling 
air,"  or  a  "pleasant  air,"  or  that  he  moves  along  the 
streets  with  a  "grand  air."  And  before  we  have  done 
describing  the  man,  we  mention  this  air  of  his. 
We  add  to  his  features,  and  form,  and  words,  and 
doings,  and  position  in  society  and  the  Church  and 
business,  this  impalpable  and  often  indescribable  at- 
mosphere which  surrounds  him  always  and  every- 
where— just  as  the  air,  night  and  day,  and  through- 
out all  its  journey  in  the  path  of  its  orbit,  surrounds 
the  planet  upon  which  we  live.  And  not  only  so, 
but  we  usually  feel  it  more  than  we  feel  any  thing 
else  when  we  first  come  within  the  range  of  a  man's 
personal  influence.  Let  any  one  endeavor  to  ana- 
lyze what  we  call  his  first  impressions  of  an  indi- 
vidual, in  order  to  ascertain  from  what  exactly  in 
the  individual  these  impressions  were  received.  I 
think  we  shall  all  agree  that,  in  most  cases,  they 
are  received,  not  so  much  from  what  the  person 
said  or  did,  as  from  this  something  which  usually 
eludes   analysis,  and  which   sometimes  we  call   the 


THE    VALUE    OF    A   RELIGIOUS    ATMOSPHERE.        171 

"tone,"  but  more  often  the  "air  of  the  man."  It 
is  Thackeray,  I  think,  who,  in  one  of  his  sketches, 
tells  of  two  men  going  one  after  another  to  a  hotel, 
seeking  lodgings.  Nothing  was  said  by  either  of 
them  about  the  character  of  the  room  desired.  But, 
such  was  the  air  of  one  of  them,  that  the  clerk  did 
not  hesitate  to  send  him  to  the  attic,  while  the  other, 
he  did  not  dare  to  place  in  any  but  his  best  apart- 
ment. Do  we  not  all  know  women,  in  whose  gentle 
presence — though  they  themselves  would  shrink  in 
fear  from  their  own  voices,  were  they  to  attempt  the 
utterance  of  any  thing  like  a  rebuke — the  rough- 
est boor  loses  for  the  time  his  roughness,  and  holds 
his  voice  to  gentlest  tones  ?  "We  have  all  heard  that 
Daniel  "Webster,  in  the  days  of  his  power,  would, 
by  his  presence  and  the  air  he  had,  influence  and 
awe  an  audience  as  other  men  could  not  by  their 
eloquence. 

But  I  will  not  detain  you  with  illustrations.  There 
is  such  a  thing  as  the  atmosphere  of  a  man,  an  in- 
stitution, a  church,  a  place;  and  there  is  an  influence 
exerted  by  it,  distinct  from  and  in  addition  to  the 
more  direct  influence  exerted  by  such  place  or  person. 
There  is,  too,  such  a  thing  as  a  religious,  a  spiritual 
atmosphere,  the  unconscious  and  permanent  exertion 
of  a  religious  influence  on  all  with  whom  we  come 
in  contact.  And  if  a  man  has  this  religious  atmos- 
phere surrounding  him,  he  will  not  only  impress 
others  with  the  fact  that  he  is  religious;  he  will 
also  influence  them  religiously.  And  just  here  at  the 
outset,  we  must  make  this  clear  and  important  dis- 
tinction. It  is  one  thing,  as  you  walk  about  the 
streets  and  mingle  in  the  society  of  the  world,  to 
impress  men  with  the  fact  that  you  are  religious.  It 
is  quite  another  thing,  if  your  life,  as  you  live  it  at 


172  SERMONS    ON    THE    CHRISTIAN    LIFE. 

home  and  in  business,  influences  men  in  behalf  of 
the  religion  which  you  profess.  It  would  have  been 
of  little  value  to  David,  if  the  only  impression  made 
upon  Saul,  as  he  came  near  to  Naioth,  had  been  that 
Naioth  was  a  place  where  all  who  dwelt  prayed  and 
prophesied.  The  value  of  the  religious  atmosphere 
of  Naioth  to  David  was,  that  Saul  himself  imbibed 
the  spirit  of  the  place,  the  moment  he  came  within 
the  range  of  its  influence;  and,  instead  of  pursu- 
ing David,  gave  himself  to  prophecy.  We  speak  of 
the  benefit  which  a  young  man,  beginning  business, 
derives  from  living  in  a  business  place,  in  a  com- 
mercial atmosphere.  But  that  atmosphere  will  do 
him  little  good,  if  it  only  impresses  him  with  the 
fact  that  his  surroundings  are  those  of  a  mer- 
cantile character.  If  such  surroundings  have  any 
value  for  him,  it  lies  in  the  fact  that,  in  breathing 
their  atmosphere  he  imbibes  their  spirit,  and  becomes 
himself  what  we  call  a  business  man.  This  is  an 
all  important  distinction.  If  our  religion  is  such, 
that  men  recognize  only  that  we  are  religious,  we 
are  condemned  by  Him  who  distinctly  says:  "Take 
heed  that  ye  do  not  your  righteousness  before  men 
to  be  seen  of  them."  But  if  we  not  only  impress 
them  with  the  fact  that  we  are  religious,  but  so  im- 
press them  that  they  are  drawn  toward  our  religion, 
then  are  we  in  the  exact  line  of  duty,  for  in  the 
same  discourse  to  his  disciples  Christ  says :  "  Let  your 
light  so  shine  before  men,  that  they  may  see  your  good 
works  and  glorify  your  Father  which  is  in  heaven." 
A  Christian  Church  always,  I  suppose,  impresses 
the  world  with  the  fact  that  it  is  Christian.  But 
sometimes  God's  Spirit  descends  on  such  a  Church; 
and  there  succeeds  what  we  call  a  revival  of  religion. 
Then  the  Church  not  only  impresses  the  men,  who 


THE    VALUE    OF    A    RELIGIOUS    ATMOSPHERE.         173 

come  within  the  range  of  its  influence,  with  the  fact 
that  it  is  Christian,  but  it  impresses  its  own  Christi- 
anity in  some  measure  upon  them.  We  all  know 
the  difference  between  the  same  Church  at  ordinary 
times  and  in  seasons  of  real  revival.  It  is  not  that 
the  same  truths  are  not  spoken,  that  the  same  instru- 
mentalities are  not  used;  it  is  in  the  constantly  out- 
going influence,  in  the  religious  atmosphere  which 
envelops  it. 

II.  Having  seen  the  nature  of  this  religious  atmos- 
phere, let  us  notice  briefly  its  value  as  indicated  by 
the  influence  which  those  whom  it  surrounds  exert. 
And  in  the  first  place,  it  is  to  be  remarked  that  the 
influence  so  exerted  will  always  be  unobtrusive.  I 
suppose,  that  if  I  were  to  address  myself  to  those  that 
are  professed  Christians  before  me,  and  put  the  ques- 
tion :  "  Why  do  you  not  obey  the  command  of  God, 
'and  let  him  that  heareth,  say  come?'  Why  are  you 
not  more  diligent  in  pressing  home  upon  the  atten- 
tion of  your  friends  and  companions  the  claims  of 
Christ  and  his  Gospel?"  If,  I  say,  I  should  address 
questions  like  these  to  the  individual  Christians  before 
me — I  would  probably  receive  the  reply :  "  We  have 
no  wish  to  obtrude  the  subject,  or  rather  we  have  no 
desire  to  appear  obtrusive.  We  fear  that  such  ap- 
peals will  be  regarded  as  officious;  and  instead  of 
advancing  the  interests  of  Christianity,  we  shall 
only  make  enemies  for  ourselves."  And  in  such  a 
reply  there  would  be  force.  However  we  may  attempt 
to  account  for  it,  men  do  regard  such  conversation 
as  impertinent  and  obtrusive.  It  seems  to  suppose 
that  they  do  not  give  due  attention  to  the  subject  on 
which  the  appeal  is  made.  It  seems  to  them  to  imply 
also  the  profession  of  a  high  degree  of  sanctity  by  the 
person  addressing  them.   And  at  any  rate,  the  subject 


174  SERMONS    ON    THE    CHRISTIAN    LIFE. 

being  a  distasteful  one  to  almost  all  irreligious  people, 
they  are  very  glad  to  excuse  their  inattention,  by  the 
counter  accusation  of  obtrusiveness.  Accordingly,  it 
is  very  desirable,  if  it  be  possible,  to  exert  on  others 
a  religious  influence  which  shall  not  be  liable  to 
this  most  unpleasant  charge.  A  father,  for  instance, 
wishes  to  exert  a  Christian  influence  upon  the  mem- 
bers of  his  family.  He  desires  earnestly  that  all  of 
them  will  become  disciples  of  Christ.  He  fears — and 
that  very  rationally — that  if  he  shall  continuously  talk 
about  the  subject,  if  he  shall  intrude  it  into  all  hours, 
all  studies,  and  all  plays,  the  result  will  be,  that  his 
children  will  revolt  from  the  subject,  and  more  harm 
than  good  will  be  done.  I  will  not  be  misunderstood 
here.  I  am  not  inveighing  in  the  least  against  relig- 
ious conversation  in  families,  and  an  earnest  pressing 
of  the  claims  of  Christ  by  parents  on  the  attention 
of  their  children.  By  no  means.  On  the  contrary,  I 
greatly  fear,  that  in  these  days  there  is  a  very  wide- 
spread disposition  to  throw  off  the  duty  of  relig- 
ious conversation  and  religious  training,  and  to  lay  it 
upon  the  Church  and  the  Sunday-school.  And  yet, 
on  the  other  hand,  there  is  a  well-grounded  alarm  on 
the  part  of  many  parents,  that  if  they  shall  do  what 
seems  to  them  their  duty  in  speaking  on  this  subject, 
they  will  drive  their  children  away  from  attending  to 
it.  Now  the  question  may  well  be  asked:  "Is  there 
any  method  by  which  the  religious  influence  can  be 
exerted,  and  the  charge  of  obtrusiveness  escaped?  Is 
it  possible  to  unite  influence  and  unobtrusiveness  ? " 
And  I  answer,  yes;  and  refer  you  to  this  religious 
atmosphere  of  which  I  am  speaking.  Let  such  an 
atmosphere  surround  a  parent.  Let  the  continual 
outgoing  of  himself,  and  the  constant  and  natural 
expression  of  his  life  in  his  home,  and  in  his  inter- 


THE    VALUE    OF   A    RELIGIOUS    ATMOSPHERE.         175 

course  with  his  children  be  Christian.  Let  the  spirit 
of  his  religion  shine  through  him;  and  whether  he 
speak  or  be  silent,  he  will  not  fail  to  impress  the 
beauty  and  the  importance  of  Christ's  Gospel  on  all 
who  are  near  him;  and  in  neither  case  will  he  be  re- 
garded as  at  all  obtrusive.  Just  this  was  the  case 
with  Naioth's  influence  on  Saul.  The  change  ef- 
fected in  his  conduct  was  a  revolution.  He  came 
to  Naioth  to  murder;  and  when  he  came,  he  proph- 
esied. And  yet,  so  far  as  we  can  learn,  no  one  spoke 
to  him,  no  one  rebuked  him.  The  fact  was,  that  in 
such  a  spiritual  atmosphere  as  that  in  which  the 
monarch  found  himself,  murder  would  have  been  so 
unnatural,  that  he  was  unable  to  accomplish  his  pur- 
pose; and  prayer  and  prophecy  were  so  in  accord- 
ance with  the  place,  that  even  he  could  not  refrain 
from  them.  And  so,  dear  friends,  do  we  not  all  know 
homes,  in  which  the  atmosphere  is  such,  that  neither 
parents  nor  children  find  it  at  all  difficult  to  think  of 
religion,  of  their  duties  to  God  and  Christ  and  their 
fellow-men;  where  the  Christian  influence  on  chil- 
dren is  powerful,  yet  unobtrusive;  whose  members 
all  men  expect  will  become  Christians,  and  profess 
themselves  such,  and  walk  worthy  of  their  high  voca- 
tion? And  do  we  not  all  know  other  homes,  where, 
if  the  Gospel  enters  at  all,  it  seems  to  come  as  an  in- 
truder and  an  unwelcome  guest;  an  utter  stranger; 
so  worldly  is  the  air  that  all  its  inmates  breathe?  In 
all  kindness,  let  me  put  the  question  :  to  which  of 
these  descriptions,  do  the  homes  answer,  in  which 
you  are  training  those  whom  God  has  given  you  ? 

A  second  element  of  the  superiority  of  the  influence, 
which  I  am  endeavoring  to  describe,  is  to  be  found 
in  the  fact  that  it  is  exerted  all  the  time,  and  on  all 
with  whom  one  comes  in  contact.    One  difficulty  with 


176  SERMONS   ON   THE    CHRISTIAN   LIFE. 

religious  work  is,  that  it  is  so  often  fitful,  spasmodic. 
At  best,  it  is  intermittent.  The  mind  and  body  both 
need  rest  at  times.  Another  difficulty  is,  that  it  can 
be  performed  in  behalf  of  comparatively  so  few.  One 
is  tempted  to  despair,  when  he  reflects  on  the  num- 
ber of  those  upon  whom  he  should,  apparently,  ex- 
ert a  religious  influence;  and  compares  it  with  the 
small  number  whom  he  can  directly  influence.  When 
a  man  in  active  business,  or  a  woman  engrossed  with 
the  cares  of  an  active  life,  thinks  of  adding  to  them 
special  religious  work,  what  wonder  that  the  ques- 
tion spontaneously  arises :  "  Who  is  sufficient  for 
these  things?"  And  may  we  not  believe  that  the 
reflection,  that  one  has  time  to  do  so  little  and  in 
behalf  of  so  few,  induces  many  to  refrain  from  do- 
ing any  thing  whatever? 

Now,  I  bring  a  specific  for  this  despair  and  result- 
ant indolence,  so  far  as  religious  work  is  concerned, 
in  this  religious  atmosphere,  which  I  would  have 
surround  the  life  of  every  professing  Christian  before 
me.  It  goes  wherever  he  goes,  whom  it  surrounds ; 
it  is  with  him  always ;  and  in  the  measure  of  its 
own  purity  it  influences  all  with  whom  he  is  associ- 
ated. So  it  was  at  Naioth  in  Raman.  The  religious 
spirit  of  the  place  was  abiding;  potential  always,  and 
on  all  who  came  there;  on  the  first  messengers  whom 
Saul  sent,  as  well  as  on  the  king.  It  is  just  this 
abiding,  ever-powerful  influence,  that  Christ  most 
desires  to  have  his  people  exert.  He  would  have 
us  engage  in  special  labor  for  Him,  indeed;  but  He 
would  also  have  all  labor,  labor  in  behalf  of  his  Gos- 
pel. He  would  have  us  give  certain  time  especially 
to  his  interests;  but  He  would  also  have  all  time 
consecrated.  And  in  this  world,  in  which  we  are 
placed,  this  can  be  done,  only  by  carrying  about  with 


TIIE    VALUE    OF    A    RELIGIOUS    ATMOSPHERE.        177 

us  into  all  our  relations,  home  and  business,  and  into 
the  presence  of  all  into  whose  presence  we  come,  this 
religious  habit,  or  spirit,  or  atmosphere;  so  that  all 
places  and  times  shall  be  consecrated,  and  all  with 
whom  we  are  allied  shall  feel,  that  whether  we  eat 
or  drink,  or  whatever  we  do,  we  are  doing  all  to  the 
glory  of  God. 

But  a  third  element  of  the  superiority  of  this  pe- 
culiar influence  becomes  evident  when  we  remember, 
that  without  it,  all  personal  and  purposed  religious 
work  will  probably  be  without  fruit.  When  I  speak 
of  personal  and  purposed  work,  I  mean  work  in- 
tended to  act  directly  upon  another  soul,  like  that 
performed  by  a  teacher  in  the  Sunday-school,  or  by 
a  mother  endeavoring  to  instruct  religiously  her  chil- 
dren. Such  work,  I  repeat,  it  is  reasonable  to  be- 
lieve, can  not  be  performed  successfully  unless  this 
immanent  influence  accompanies  it.  This  is  only 
saying,  what  all  of  us,  doubtless,  are  prepared  to 
admit,  that  "religious  talk"  alone  is  not  enough  to 
exert  religious  influence.  Added  to  the  words,  must 
be  the  power  of  a  corresponding  life,  before  they  can 
exert  the  influence  intended.  Respect  for  the  char- 
acter, and  a  conviction  of  the  sincerity  of  the  clergy- 
man— these  are  elements  of  power,  without  which  the 
mere  sermon  is  weakness  indeed.  Christ's  words — 
though  He  spake  as  never  man  spake — are  not  so 
mighty  as  Christ's  character;  and  the  power,  which 
they  possess,  is  largely  due  to  the  perfect  corre- 
spondence between  Himself  and  them.  A  friend  not 
long  since  made  this  remark  to  me :  "A  clergyman 
does  not  preach  well,  and  can  not  preach  effectively, 
when  he  tries  to  soar  above  the  reach  of  his  own 
religious  experience."  What  is  this  but  to  say,  that 
words   are   not   enough ;    that   when  one   speaks  to 


178  SERMONS   ON   THE   CHRISTIAN   LIFE. 

another  on  the  subject  of  religion,  he  must  be  careful 
to  speak  out  of  his  own  experience ;  he  must  carry 
with  him  a  religious  spirit;  he  must  be  surrounded 
with  a  religious  atmosphere;  and  this  spirit  or  at- 
mosphere— call  it  what  you  will — is  that,  which  saves 
his  words  from  falling  dead  upon  the  heart  of  him 
to  whom  he  speaks. 

Hence,  the  special  need  that  all  have,  whose  re- 
ligious work  is  of  this  personal  character,  to  be 
earnest  and  constant  in  prayer.  It  is  not  enough 
for  parents  who  endeavor  religiously  to  influence  their 
children,  or  for  Sunday-school  teachers,  or  for  clergy- 
men, that  they  be  well  informed  about  the  subjects, 
from  which  they  gather  religious  lessons  and  appeals. 
There  must  be  a  spiritual  preparation  also.  The 
teacher,  the  parent,  and  the  preacher,  must  come  to 
their  work  in  the  true  religious  spirit;  surrounded 
with  this  religious  atmosphere;  else  will  their  words 
be  lifeless.  So,  friends,  do  we  need  to  pray  more ; 
"  to  linger  and  meditate  in  the  deep  shades  of  Geth- 
semane,  and  near  the  cross  on  Calvary;"  and  imbibe 
Christ's  spirit,  without  which  our  labors  with  others, 
if  not  our  labors  for  others,  will  for  the  most  part 
be  in  vain. 

III.  But,  no  doubt,  the  question  has  already  sug- 
gested itself  to  those  before  me :  "  In  what  way  is 
this  religious  atmosphere  secured?  "What  is  its 
source?  What  is  the  secret  of  those  who  possess  it?" 
There  is  no  secret,  friends.  The  elements  of  the 
atmosphere,  which  surrounds  the  globe,  lie  within 
the  globe  itself.  The  religious  atmosphere,  which 
enveloped  the  little  town  to  which  David  fled,  and 
which  80  mightily  influenced  Saul,  was  born  of  the 
religious  life  within  the  town  itself.  Those  who  pos- 
sess, in  any  degree,  this  subtle  religious  power,  owe  it 


THE   VALUE    OF   A   RELIGIOUS   ATMOSPHERE.        179 

entirely  to  the  spirit  of  Christ  within  them.  The 
deeper  our  religious  life,  the  wider  will  be  the  circle 
of  this  surrounding  air;  or,  at  least,  the  more  effect- 
ive will  it  be  on  those  who  come  within  its  circum- 
ference. The  candle  of  the  Lord  must  burn  within 
us,  before  we  can  so  let  our  light  shine  before  men, 
that  they  will  be  led  to  glorify  our  Father  in  heaven. 
So  it  is  with  the  Church  at  large,  and  with  each  in- 
dividual Church.  There  may  be  an  artificial  excite- 
ment, born  of  the  use  of  extraordinary  means  and 
external  appliances  and  stimulants.  But  there  can  be 
no  true  revival,  without  a  corresponding  life  within 
the  Church.  Let  us  not  forget  this,  brethren.  The 
atmosphere  of  a  man's  life  or  a  Church's  life,  the 
immanent,  unconscious,  influence  exerted,  is  always 
and  exactly  determined  by  the  life  itself.  So  that  1 
have  to  urge  again,  as  always,  the  one  great  duty, 
which  it  is  the  mission  of  the  pulpit  to  urge  from 
week  to  week ;  the  duty  of  living  near  to  Him,  and 
drinking  into  the  spirit  of  Him,  whose  spirit  is  the 
life  and  light  of  men.  How  do  we  need  to  pray  to, 
and  commune  with,  and  meditate  upon  our  Lord? 
"Without  Him — let  us  learn  it  anew  to-day — without 
Him,  without  his  spirit  within  us,  we  can  do  nothing. 
Just  one  word  more;  and  that  for  the  purpose  of 
caution.  Let  us  remember  that,  important  as  this 
ever  present,  and,  in  one  sense,  unconscious  influence 
is,  it  is  not  every  thing  needed  for  the  awakening  of 
religious  life  in  others.  "Without  the  atmosphere 
which  envelops  the  earth,  all  forms  of  life  would 
perish,  and  the  surface  of  the  world  would  be  as  bar- 
ren, as  that  of  the  moon  itself.  But  while  the  air  is 
needed,  it  is  not  all  that  is  needed.  Life  springs  from 
the  ground,  obedient  only  to  the  shining  sun  and 
the  falling  rain.     It  is  requisite,  indeed,  if  we  would 


180  SERMONS   ON   TIIE   CHRISTIAN   LIFE. 

have  men  saved  from  the  sin  that  is  in  them,  that 
they  be  brought  within  the  range  of  influence  like 
that,  which  I  have  very  imperfectly  described.  But 
this  is  not  all.  Let  us  not  make  the  mistake  of  be- 
lieving it  to  be  all.  Before  the  divine  life  of  Christ 
can  be  within  them,  the  Sun  of  righteousness  must 
shine  upon  them  with  healing  in  his  beams;  and  the 
dew  and  the  gentle  rain  of  God's  Spirit  must  de- 
scend upon  them  from  heaven.  To  the  earthly  at- 
mosphere must  be  joined  these  heavenly  influences. 
And  so  the  Christian  and  the  Church,  in  all  their 
endeavors  for  the  good  of  men,  must  ever  hold  up 
Christ,  and  ever  pray  for  the  Spirit.  And  so,  when 
the  fruit  of  labor  shall  appear,  and  here  and  there 
shall  spring  up  within  the  garden  of  the  Lord  new 
plants,  adorned  with  beauty  and  bearing  fruit — let 
not  the  Church  take  the  glory  to  herself.  But  let 
her  remember  the  shining  of  the  Sun  of  righteous- 
ness, and  the  descent  of  the  rain  of  the  Spirit  of  God. 
I  suppose  that  there  are  those  before  me,  who, 
though  not  Christians,  are  still  inspired  at  times  with 
noble  ambitions  to  do  good  to  their  fellow-men ;  to 
lift  them  up  to  better  lives.  They  are  conscious,  no 
doubt,  that  their  own  lives  must  be  failures,  unless 
they  live  for  others  than  themselves.  But,  if  they 
are  honest,  they  will  confess,  I  doubt  not,  that  these 
ambitions  and  the  labors  that  proceed  from  them 
are  spasmodic,  and  issue  in  little  that  is  satisfactory 
to  themselves.  Friends,  we  would  give  these  noble 
impulses  due  praise.  We  would  not  deny  to  them 
nobility.  But  we  would  see  them  made  something 
more  than  mere  temporary  and  inefficient  impulse. 
We  would  have  them  so  transfigured,  that  your 
whole  living  will  be  a  doing  good.  And  this  can 
be    done   only  by  coming  to   Christ,  and    drinking 


THE    VALUE    OF    A   RELIGIOUS    ATMOSPHERE.         181 

into  his  life.  When  this  shall  have  been  done,  there 
will  go  out  from  you,  unconsciously,  a  permanent 
influence  to  bless  your  fellow-men.  You  will  not 
only  do  good  purposely.  But,  like  the  sun  in  the 
heavens,  at  all  times  there  will  radiate  from  you 
spiritual  light  and  warmth  to  bless  and  beautify  the 
world.  This  is  the  blessed  life  to  which  we  call  you 
when  we  bid  you  come  to  Christ.  This  is  the  mission 
of  Christianity;  and  this  the  method  of  its  benedic- 
tion. Men  and  women,  whose  hearts  swell  at  times 
with  noblest  aims,  it  is  in  Christ  alone,  that  they  can 
be  achieved.  Only  when  you  live  in  Him,  the  Light 
of  the  world,  can  you  also  become  the  light  of  the 
world. 


XII. 
THE  COST  OF  DISCIPLESHIP. 

"For  which  of  you,  intending  to  build  a  tower,  sitteth  not 
down  first,  and  counteth  the  cost,  whether  he  have  sufficient 
to  finish  it?  Lest  haply,  after  he  hath  laid  the  foundation,  and 
is  not  able  to  finish  it,  all  that  behold  it  begin  to  mock  him, 
saying,  This  man  began  to  build,  and  was  not  able  to  finish." — 
Luke  xiv,  28,  29,  30. 

The  text  is  an  illustration  of  the  absolute  honesty 
of  our  Lord;  of  his  desire  to  hide  no  difficulty  that 
attaches  to  a  life  of  discipleship.  It  is  an  illustra- 
tion the  more  remarkable,  because  it  follows,  im- 
mediately, the  parable  in  which  the  privileges  of 
the  life  to  which  He  invites  men  are  spoken  of 
as  a  feast,  to  which  all  are  called;  the  parable  in 
which  occur  the  words:  "Go  out  into  the  high- 
ways and  hedges  and  compel  them  to  come  in,  that 
my  house  may  be  filled."  Side  by  side  with  this  par- 
able, which  sets  forth  both  the  blessedness  of  the 
Christian  life  and  the  Lord's  desire  that  all  men 
shall  enjoy  it,  is  the  parable  of  the  unfinished 
tower;  which,  in  the  plainest  language,  informs 
men  that  their  entrance  on  this  life  and  its  contin- 
uance will  involve  the  sacrifice  of  much  that  they 
hold  dear.     More  solemn   and  impressive  than  the 

(182) 


THE    COST    OF    DISCIPLESHIP.  183 

parable  itself,  are  the  words  which  introduce  it: 
"If  any  man  come  to  me,  and  hate  not  his  father 
and  mother  and  wife,  yea,  and  his  own  life  also,  he 
can  not  be  my  disciple." 

We  easily  believe  the  statements  of  the  Evangel- 
ists, that  great  numbers  were  attracted  to  the  Lord  by 
his  miracles  of  healing,  by  his  teaching,  and  by  his 
manifest  sympathy  with  all  classes  and  conditions  of 
men.  Such  words  as  these,  which  we  find  in  this  chap- 
ter— "and  there  went  great  multitudes  with  him" — 
are  perfectly  credible.  And  equally  credible,  when 
read  in  connection  with  a  statement  like  the  text, 
are  passages  like  those,  which  we  find  toward  the 
close  of  the  Gospel  narrative,  such  as:  "Then  all 
his  disciples  forsook  him  and  fled."  For  it  would 
seem  that  many  began  a  life  of  discipleship,  without 
an  adequate  appreciation  of  its  hardships.  Impul- 
sively they  accepted  Christ,  because  He  seemed  what 
He  professed  to  be — the  Messiah  predicted  by  the 
prophets — and  they  were  quite  ready  to  confess  their 
loyalty,  in  order  to  share  in  the  spoils  that  would 
be  distributed  after  the  destruction  of  the  Roman 
power.  Others — moved  by  personal  affection — were 
ready  to  manifest  their  love  by  a  confession  of  dis- 
cipleship, without  propounding  to  themselves  the 
question,  to  what  will  this  discipleship  lead  us?  Oth- 
ers still  were  filled  with  admiration  for  a  supernatu- 
ral power,  which,  by  a  word,  could  compel  disease  to 
loose  its  hold  on  its  victims,  or  could  still  a  tempest, 
or  call  the  dead  to  life  again,  and  joined  the  crowd 
of  his  followers,  moving  with  Him  from  city  to  city. 
And  thus,  from  a  variety  of  motives,  men  followed 
Him  in  increasing  numbers,  until  the  chief  priests  and 
rulers  feared  that  He  would  capture  the  nation,  and 
take  their  places  in  the  temple  and  the  s}-nagognes. 


18-4  SERMONS    ON    THE    CHRISTIAN    LIFE. 

It  serves  to  show,  how  far  they  were  from  appre- 
ciating his  method  and  mission;  that,  notwithstand- 
ing his  own  words,  like  those  which  constitute  the 
text,  these  rulers  still  sought  to  put  Him  to  death,  as 
a  seditious  disturber  of  the  people.  A  demagogue, 
an  aspirant  after  worldly  power,  a  man  ambitious  for 
the  miter  of  the  priest,  or  the  seat  of  Pilate,  or 
the  scepter  of  the  Emperor,  would  have  been  guilty 
of  no  such  folly  as  that,  which,  on  the  supposition 
of  these  rulers,  we  must  attribute  to  Jesus.  And  it 
does  seem  to  me,  that  modern  skeptical  critics  who 
take  the  same  ground,  namely,  that  Christ  was  look- 
ing to  the  establishment  of  a  government  on  the 
ruins  of  those  of  Pilate  and  Herod,  must  sometimes 
be  startled  from  their  theories,  by  words  like  those 
which  we  find  in  connection  with  the  text,  which 
were  designed  to  impress  the  hardship  of  his  service, 
and  were  calculated  to  lead  men  to  withdraw  from 
his  company.  Indeed,  we  are  expressly  told,  that, 
after  an  expression  like  this,  many  followed  not 
after  Him.  On  every  occasion  on  which  He  could  do 
so,  He  took  care  to  inform  the  people  of  the  severe 
side  of  disciplcship;  of  his  indisposition  to  bestow 
worldly  rewards.  He  rebuked  the  people  because 
they  followed  Him  simply  for  loaves  and  fishes;  and 
more  than  once  said  distinctly:  "If  any  man  will 
come  after  me,  let  him  deny  himself,  take  up  his 
cross  and  follow  me." 

So,  at  this  time,  He  turns  to  the  very  multitudes, 
to  whom  He  had  spoken  a  gracious  parable  of  in- 
vitation, and  addresses  to  them  another  parable; 
warning  them  against  inconsiderateness  aud  haste 
in  beginning  a  life  of  disciplcship ;  and  bidding 
them  consider  well  the  hardship  and  self-denial 
which  it  must  involve.    "For  which  of  you,  intend- 


THE    COST    OF    DISCIPLESHIP.  185 

ing  to  build  a  tower,  sitteth  not  down  first  and 
counteth  the  cost,  whether  he  have  sufficient  money 
to  finish  it?  Lest  haply  after  he  hath  laid  the 
foundation  and  is  not  able  to  finish  it,  all  men 
begin  to  mock  him,  saying,  This  man  began  to 
build,  and  was  not  able  to  finish."  He  calls  before 
their  minds  a  picture  designed  to  make  them  pause; 
a  picture  which  Jeremy  Taylor  has  so  finely  drawn, 
that  I  can  not  forbear  to  quote  his  words  at  this 
point.  "  So  have  I  seen,"  he  writes  in  his  sermon 
on  " Lukewarmness  and  Zeal" — "So  have  I  seen  a 
fair  structure  begun  with  art  and  care,  and  raised 
to  half  its  stature;  and  then  it  stood  still,  by  the 
misfortune  or  neglect  of  its  owner,  and  the  rain  de- 
scended and  dwelt  in  its  joints,  and  supplanted  the 
contexture  of  its  pillars;  and  having  stood  awhile, 
like  the  antiquated  temple  of  a  deceased  oracle,  it 
fell  into  a  hasty  age,  and  sunk  upon  its  knees,  and 
so  descended  into  a  ruin.  So  is  the  imperfect,  un- 
finished spirit  of  a  man.  It  lays  the  foundation  of 
a  holy  resolution,  and  strengthens  it  with  vows  and 
arts  of  prosecution;  its  raises  up  the  walls,  sacra- 
ments and  prayers,  reading  and  holy  ordinances; 
and  holy  actions  begin  with  a  slow  motion,  and  the 
building  stays,  and  the  spirit  is  weary,  and  the  soul 
is  naked  and  exposed  to  temptation,  and  in  the  day 
of  storm  takes  in  every  thing  that  can  do  it  mis- 
chief; and  it  is  faint  and  sick  and  listless  and  tired, 
and  it  stands  till  its  own  weight  wearies  the  foun- 
dation, and  then  declines  to  death  and  disorder." 

The  text,  then,  brings  before  us  the  necessity,  laid 
on  every  one  of  us — whether  we  have  begun  already, 
or  are  only  expecting  to  begin  a  life  of  discipleship — 
the  necessity  of  seriously  setting  before  our  souls  the 
cost  of  the  Christian  life. 


186  SERMONS   ON    THE    CHRISTIAN   LIFE. 

I.  And  we  can  do  no  better,  in  considering  the 
subject,  than  to  begin  by  asking  what  the  Chris- 
tian life  is,  as  Christ  presents  it  in  the  parable.  "For 
what  man  of  you,  intending  to  build  a  tower,"  or,  in 
the  parable  that  immediately  follows:  "What  king 
going  to  make  war  against  another  king?"  Just 
here  is  a  difficulty  with  most  men.  They  do  not 
consider  the  cost  of  Christian  living,  because  they 
are  so  prone  not  to  consider  another  question  that 
lies  back  of  it;  the  question,  what  is  Christian  liv- 
ing? I  do  not  say,  that  they  do  not  know  what 
it  is,  but  it  is  not  a  subject  of  earnest,  serious  consid- 
eration. It  is  too  often  true  that  men,  moved  toward 
Christ  by  a  single  governing  motive,  seize  hold  of 
but  a  single  part  of  Christianity.  They  take  a  par- 
tial view  of  it ;  and  this  most  often,  the  brightest 
view.  So  it  was  with  this  great  multitude  that  fol- 
lowed Christ.  "How  mighty  He  is,"  cries  one  :  "He 
raises  the  dead;  He  heals  the  sick.  I  will  follow 
Him."  "What  words  of  heavenly  wisdom  are  these 
we  hear:"  another  cries.  "  He  speaks  with  authority, 
and  not  as  the  scribes.  I  will  be  his  disciple." 
"  Surely,"  cries  the  third,  "  this  can  be  none  other  than 
the  Messiah,  that  shall  conquer  our  enemies  and 
reign  in  Jerusalem.  Hosanna,  to  the  Son  of  David ! 
I,  too,  will  be  of  his  company."  And  thus,  attracted, 
some  by  evidences  of  power,  and  others  by  signs  of 
supernatural  wisdom,  and  others  by  the  hope  of  ex- 
ternal blessings,  they  accepted  Him  but  partially; 
not  caring  to  consider  what  might  be  involved  in  the 
acceptance.  They  failed  seriously  to  ask  the  mean- 
ing of  discipleship.  So  it  is  with  many  now,  who 
are  quite  sincere  in  their  belief  in  the  Lord.  Their 
acceptance  is  not  entire,  they  do  not  seize  the  sig- 
nificance of  the  Christian  life.      And,  therefore,  it 


THE    COST    OF    DISCIPLESIIIP.  187 

becomes  us  to  ponder  well  this  parable,  in  which 
the  Lord  sets  forth  the  life  of  a  disciple,  under  the 
image  of  the  building  of  a  tower.  He  chose  the 
illustration,  for  the  very  purpose  of  dissipating  the 
false  impression,  that  discipleship  is  a  slight  thing, 
whose  duties  can  easily  be  fulfilled.  It  is  as  if  He 
had  said:  "The  life  of  a  disciple  is  a  life  of  construc- 
tion. The  man,  who  would  follow  me,  must  rear  a 
character,  a  monument  in  himself,  which,  as  it  is  like 
me,  will  show  forth  my  glory.  It  is  no  slight  work. 
It  demands  the  forth-putting  of  all  his  energies;  and 
this,  not  for  a  day,  but  for  his  life.  It  requires  pa- 
tience and  earnestness.  He  will  need  all  the  love 
he  can  command  to  hold  him  to  his  work.  He  will 
require  constantly  and  devoutly  to  study  the  model, 
lest  he  build  wrongly.  He  must  give  himself  to  it 
with  a  wholc-heartedness,  else  the  unfinished  build- 
ing will  mock  him  forever.  It  is  because  this  work 
is  so  hard  and  so  engrossing,  that  I  say:  'except  a 
man  hate  his  father  and  mother;  yea,  and  his  own 
life  also,  he  can  not  be  my  disciple.' " 

Christian  friends,  do  we  carry  about  with  us  con- 
tinually a  realization  of  the  meaning  of  this  disciple- 
ship, which  every  one  of  us  has  professed?  Do 
we  keep  constantly  in  view  of  ourselves  the  fact, 
that,  on  our  part,  it  means  the  building  of  a  charac- 
ter upon  Christ,  and  like  Christ.  This  is  the  tower 
of  which  the  Lord  speaks  in  the  text ;  a  character 
like  his  own;  formed  after  his;  built  with  his,  as 
the  pattern  shown  to  us  in  the  mount  of  commun- 
ion and  contemplation.  Are  there  not  many  of 
us,  who,  when  we  think  of  our  Redeemer,  think 
of  Him  only  as  a  shield  from  future  misery,  or 
as  a  master  to  impose  duties,  or  as  an  Almighty 
friend,  to  whom  we  trust  ourselves  for  forgiveness 


188  SERMONS   ON    THE    CHRISTIAN   LIFE. 

and  the  bestowment  of  external  blessings?  He  is 
all  these  indeed,  and  such  acceptance  is  a  necessary 
element  of  Christian  discipleship.  But  He  is  far 
more.  To  be  a  Christian  is  to  have  the  spirit  of 
Christ ;  to  live  a  Christian  life  is  to  put  forth  con- 
tinually, all  the  powers  of  our  souls,  in  order  to  the 
upbuilding  of  a  character  like  his,  who  was  holy, 
harmless,  undefiled  and  separate  from  sinners. 

II.  Such  being  the  character  of  the  Christian  life, 
it  need  not  surprise  us  that  it  will  cost  us  something; 
that  it  will  involve  suffering;  the  taking  up  of 
crosses,  which  we  shall  often  find  very  hard  to  bear. 
But  it  is  important  to  notice,  before  considering  the 
elements  of  this  cost,  that  the  only  self-denial  it  in- 
volves, is  that  which  necessarily  grows  out  of  the 
great  distance  between  us  and  the  character  which 
Christ  sets  before  us.  In  other  words,  the  self-denial 
of  the  Gospel  is  no  arbitrary  imposition.  It  is  not 
commanded  by  Christ  for  its  own  sake.  There  is  no 
virtue  in  cost  itself.  This  is  a  very  important  re- 
mark, and  one  that  needs  often  to  be  made.  For 
many  Christians  seem  to  be  impressed  with  the  belief, 
that  the  Lord  makes  self-denial  a  positive  virtue,  just 
as  faith  and  hope  and  love  are  made  positive  virtues. 
This  is  not  true.  On  the  contrary,  it  is  to  be  said 
that  the  highest  life  is  a  life  in  which  there  is  not  the 
least  consciousness  of  self-denial,  of  giving  up.  And, 
therefore,  the  more  nearly  perfect  the  Christian  be- 
comes in  this  life,  the  less  is  he  conscious  that  there 
is  the  least  cost  in  the  Christian  life. 

Cost  or  self-denial  is  a  virtue,  only  when  its  end  is 
virtuous.  The  world  contains  innumerable  examples 
of  self-sacrifice,  to  which  we  should  not  think  of 
according  the  least  praise.  For  there  is  no  reward 
of  money,  or  power,  or  honor,  or  ease,  which  man 


THE    COST    OF    DISCIPLESHIP.  189 

can  attain  without  it.  And,  therefore,  Christ  does  not 
command  it  of  his  disciples,  as  He  commands  faith. 
It  is  not  a  Christian  grace,  as  faith  is  a  Christian  grace. 
Redemption  is  free ;  and  self-sacrifice  is  a  result  rather 
than  a  command.  It  is  the  necessary  consequence  of 
a  sinful  man's  endeavor  to  build  a  character  like  that 
of  Christ.  The  work  is  so  great,  that  it  must  involve 
tremendous  sacrifice  to  such  a  man.  But  let  no  one 
of  us  suppose  that  he  is  called  to  exercise  any  other 
denial,  than  that  necessarily  attaching  to  the  labor 
to  which,  by  professing  the  name  of  Christ,  he  has 
consecrated  his  life.  Just  this,  as  it  seems  to  us,  is 
one  of  the  errors  of  the  Roman  Church.  Its  fasts  and 
penances  are  imposed  arbitrarily,  as  though  some 
magical  virtue  belonged  to  the  fast  or  the  penance. 
And  just  this,  too,  is  the  mistake  that  Christians 
often  make  in  their  thinking  on  this  subject.  Let 
us  put  it  out  of  our  minds,  friends.  God  does  not  im- 
pose one  single  burden  unnecessarily  or  capriciously. 
He  does  not  teach  that  self-denial  is  a  good  in  itself. 
On  the  contrary,  he  would  have  us  enjoy  to  the  full 
every  source  of  happiness,  which  we  can  enjoy  con- 
sistently with  our  growth  into  the  stature  of  the  per- 
fect man.  The  beauties  of  nature,  the  triumphs  of 
art,  the  joys  of  social  life — these  are  not  the  less  a 
man's  right,  because  he  has  become  a  disciple  of 
Christ.  And  the  asceticism  which  would  deny  them 
to  him,  simply  on  the  ground  that  self-denial  is  com- 
manded by  our  Lord,  does  great  injustice  to,  and  is 
well  calculated  to  bring  dishonor  upon  our  holy  re- 
ligion. No,  friends;  the  only  cost  of  building  this 
character,  which  shall  be  forever  a  tower,  alike  of 
strength  and  of  beauty,  grows  out  of  the  facts  that 
we  are  sinners,  and  the  tower  is  a  tower  of  right- 
eousness; that  we  have  to  begin  so  low  and  build 


190  SERMONS    ON    THE    CHRISTIAN    LIFE. 

so  high;  and  that  we  are  continually  impelled  away 
from  building  it  by  appetite,  and  passion,  and  sin. 
The  sacrifice  thus  involved,  is  the  ouly  cost,  the  only 
self-denial,  that  Christ  commands. 

Moreover,  if  we  build  in  the  right  spirit,  if  we 
build  in  love  for  Christ,  and  in  love  of  the  character 
that  we  are  constructing ;  the  cost  will  be  to  us  no 
cost,  the  sacrifice  no  self-denial.  We  all  know  how, 
in  the  realm  of  the  religious  life,  love  transmutes 
happiness  into  gratitude  and  desire  iuto  prayer,  and 
stoical  fortitude  into  sweet  submission.  But  it  does 
more  than  this.  It  not  only  transforms  self-denial; 
it  so  changes  its  very  nature  that  it  becomes  its  own 
opposite;  it  becomes  the  most  sacred  joy.  Here  is  a 
mother  giving  her  life  to  her  children,  bending  her- 
self down  to  their  pleasures,  watching  over  them  in 
sickness,  ready  to  die  herself  if  only  they  can  live. 
Ask  any  true  mother  if  she  knows  the  meaning  of 
self-denial.  Tell  her  how  much  she  is  sacrificing ; 
what  countless  pleasures  she  is  denying  herself;  and 
you  will  learn  that  her  self-denial  is  no  self-denial, 
but  her  highest  happiness.  And  when  we,  brethren, 
have  the  love  of  the  Lord  shed  abroad  in  our  hearts; 
when  we  know  and  appreciate  the  beauty  and  the 
blessedness  of  that  holiness,  for  which,  as  Christians, 
we  are  professing  to  strive;  we  talk  no  longer  of 
sacrifices  and  burdens,  but,  like  Him,  after  likeness 
to  whom  we  are  striving,  we  say:  "Our  meat  and 
drink  is  to  do  the  will  of  Him  that  sent  us,  and  to 
finish  his  work."  No  one  rightly  estimates  the  cost 
of  Christian  discipleship  who  leaves  out  this  element 
of  love.  In  proportion  as  this  is  present  and  mighty ; 
the  paradox  becomes  true;  his  yoke  is  easy,  his  bur- 
den is  light,  and  he,  who  bears  them,  finds,  in  the 
bearing,  rest  unto  his  soul. 


THE    COST    OF    DISCIPLESHIP.  191 

III.  At  the  same  time,  it  is  true  that,  to  us,  as  sin- 
ners, the  Christian  discipleship  does  involve  real  and 
great  sacrifices,  and  it  behooves  us,  carefully  to  count 
the  cost.  I  can  allude  to  the  elements  of  this  cost 
only  in  the  briefest  possible  way. 

Notice  then,  in  the  first  place,  that  to  live  a  Chris- 
tian life  at  all,  we  must  subordinate  every  thing  else 
to  Christianity.  It  must  take  the  first  place  in  our 
life,  or  it  will  take  no  place.  The  Roman  Emperors, 
before  Christianity  became  the  state  religion,  were 
willing  to  give  to  the  statue  of  Christ  a  place  in  the 
Pantheon,  equal  to  that  of  any  of  the  gods  of  any  of 
the  nations  of  the  Empire.  But  this  did  not  satisfy  the 
disciples  of  Him,  whom  they  adored  as  King  of  kings, 
God  over  all,  blessed  for  evermore.  And  there  are 
those,  now,  who  are  willing  to  accord  to  the  religious 
sentiment  as  expressed  by  Christianity,  a  place  in 
the  soul,  side  by  side  with  its  other  desires  and 
sentiments.  It  will  not  do.  Christianity  will  be 
satisfied  with  nothing  less  than  complete  domina- 
tion. It  must  triumph  over  the  love  of  beauty,  over 
learning,  and  wealth,  and  power,  and  home,  and 
friends,  or  it  can  not  exist  at  all.  In  this  sense,  it  is 
a  tyrant.  It  abides,  only  where  it  can  control.  In- 
deed, it  is  a  contradiction  in  terms,  to  speak  of 
Christianity,  as  standing  on  the  same  plane  with 
any  thing  else  in  man.  The  central  idea  of  Chris- 
tianity is  the  subordination  of  all  claims  and  pur- 
poses to  Christ,  as  the  Lord  of  all.  If  the  end  of 
our  religion  is  the  upbuilding  of  character,  it  is  self- 
evident  that  it  must,  in  all  things,  have  the  pre-emi- 
nence. The  contradiction  is  so  palpable  as  to  be 
ludicrous,  in  the  conception  of  the  construction  of  a 
character,  which  character  must,  at  times,  give  place 
to  other  claims.     It  was  this  truth  that  the  Saviour 


192  SERMONS    ON    THE    CHRISTIAN   LIFE. 

announced  in  the  strongest  possible  language,  when 
He  said :  "  If  a  man  hate  not  father  and  mother  and 
wife;  yea,  and  his  own  life  also,  he  can  not  be  my 
disciple." 

I  could  show  you,  were  it  worth  while  to  do  so, 
that  the  endeavors  of  men  to  escape  this  great  sacri- 
fice which  Christianity  demands,  are  the  fruitful 
source  of  unworthy  religious  expedients,  like  the 
Phariseeism  and  the  Sacerdotalism,  which  occupy 
so  large  a  place  in  the  history  of  our  religion.  The 
history  of  not  a  few  of  the  greater  errors  of  the 
Church  of  Christ  in  the  sphere  of  life,  is  but  the  his- 
tory of  the  attempts  of  men  to  compromise  at  this 
point;  to  hold  fast  by  the  promises  of  Christianity, 
and,  at  the  same  time,  to  subordinate  Christianity  to 
worldly  ambitions  and  interests.  And  the  crowning, 
all-including,  sin  of  the  Church  to-day — of  ministers 
and  people  alike — in  Christian  pulpits,  and  Christian 
counting-rooms,  and  Christian  homes,  is  the  sin  of 
endeavoring  to  comfort  ourselves  with  the  promises  of 
the  Gospel,  while  subordinating  its  claims  to  others, 
which  our  lower  nature  puts  forward.  Brethren,  let 
us  understand  that  no  such  compromise  is  a  possibility. 
Character, — that  is  to  say,  the  spirit  of  Christ, — is  every 
thing  or  nothing  in  Christianity.  The  Lord  must  be 
first,  or  He  is  not  our  Lord.  Let  us  hold  clearly  before 
our  minds  this  great  cost  of  the  Gospel;  and,  in  full 
view  of  what  it  means,  choose — or  confirm  the  choice 
already  made — whom  we  will  serve.  Christ  did  not 
think  so  little  of  his  Gospel  as  to  be  willing  to  place 
any  thing,  either  before  it,  or  in  the  same  rank  with 
it.  The  power  to  perceive  beauty  is  a  noble  endow- 
ment, and  the  love  of  beauty  is  a  noble  love,  and 
art,  which  interprets  and  re-presents  the  beauty  of 
the  world  which  God  has  created,  is  a  noble  pursuit. 


THE    COST    OP    DISCIPLESHIP.  193 

But  the  Gospel  sometimes  calls  the  artist  away  from 
the  contemplation  of  beauty,  to  hard,  spiritual  labor; 
and  he  must  obey.  The  love  of  home  and  country 
and  friends,  is  implanted  within  us  by  God.  Not  to 
feel  this  love,  or  not  to  cultivate  it,  is  evidence  of 
spiritual  degradation.  But  the  Spirit  of  God  some- 
times comes  to  one,  in  whom  this  love  is  peculiarly 
intense;  and  calls  him,  as  God  of  old  called  Abra- 
ham, saying :  "  Get  thee  out  of  thy  country,  and  from 
thy  kindred,  and  from  thy  father's  house."  And, 
though  the  command  involves  hardships  that  we 
know  little  of,  the  claims  of  the  Gospel  are  pre- 
eminent; and  the  command  must  be  obeyed.  And 
so  I  might  go  through  every  appetite  and  taste, 
and  natural  affection.  We  do  not  count  the  cost 
of  discipleship,  until  we  confess  that,  above  all  and 
commanding  all,  are  the  claims  of  this  Christian 
life. 

It  would  seem  that  this  were  cost  enough.  It 
would  seem  that  nothing  else  could  be  said;  that, 
when  we  make  the  claims  of  religion  paramount,  we 
exhaust  the  subject.  But  it  is  not  all.  There  is  not 
only  the  cost  of  the  lower  life,  but  the  sacrifice  of 
something,  which,  to  some  men,  is  dearer  than 
all  other  passions — the  sense  of  pride  in  one's  own 
power.  Involved  in  this  discipleship  is  the  confes- 
sion, that,  in  our  own  strength,  we  are  entirely  in- 
adequate to  it.  He,  who  would  follow  Christ,  must 
first  profess  his  intention  to  subordinate  every  lower 
claim  to  the  building  of  a  character  like  that  of 
Christ  himself;  and,  having  done  so,  must  confess 
his  inability  to  make  good  his  profession.  This  is 
the  greatest  sacrifice  in  the  view  of  many  men.  I 
suppose  that  I  am  speaking  to  some  to-day,  who, — 
if  I  should  speak  to  them,  as  one  man   addresses 


194  SERMONS    ON    THE    CHRISTIAN    LIFE. 

another,  and  should  say :  "  Your  lower  worldly  life 
holds  you  with  such  a  powerful  grasp,  that  you  are 
unable  to  subordinate  your  desires  to  lofty  spiritual 
character," — would  esteem  themselves  insulted.  And 
yet  the  Gospel  of  Christ  says  this  to  every  one  of 
us.  Of  ourselves,  we  can  do  nothing.  We  subordi- 
nate character  to  lower  things.  We  sacrifice  it  on 
the  altar  of  business,  or  friendship,  or  power,  or 
beauty.  If  confession  of  sin  means  any  thing  at  all, 
it  means  that  we  are  sacrificing  character.  More  than 
this,  if  the  soul's  coming  to  Christ  means  any  thing, 
it  means  that,  without  his  help,  we  must,  in  our  spir- 
itual weakness,  continue  to  sacrifice  character  until 
we  are  twice  dead.  What  a  cost  is  this  confession, 
friends!  What  a  denial  of  self!  What  a  humili- 
ating proclamation  of  weakness!  Yet  just  this  is 
involved  in  discipleship.  We  must  make  the  con- 
fession, if  we  would  be  Christ's.  Until  the  confes- 
sion is  made,  and  acting  upon  it,  we  seek  Divine 
aid,  it  is  impossible  to  build  a  character,  which  shall 
stand  as  a  strong  tower,  when  all  things  perishable 
are  destroyed. 

Nor  is  this  all.  In  addition  to  this  subordination, 
and  this  sacrifice  of  pride  in  one's  own  power,  is 
another  sacrifice,  involved  in  discipleship.  I  mean 
the  sacrifice  of  the  present  to  the  future.  This  is  one 
of  the  most  forbidding  aspects  of  Christianity.  In 
speaking  of  it,  I  do  not  refer  chiefly  to  those  only 
who  find  it  hard  to  give  up  the  grosser  animal  pleas- 
ures, or  to  those  who  give  up  all  struggling  after 
goodness,  in  their  eager  longing  for  the  rewards 
of  this  world.  I  refer  especially  to  another  class. 
There  is  a  skepticism  latent  in  all  of  us,  which 
disbelieves  or  doubts  the  possibility  of  lofty  spir- 
itual achievement;  and  which  therefore  decries  ear- 


THE    COST    OF    DISCIPLESHIP.  195 

nest,  agonizing  struggle  after  a  noble  ideal  life. 
"After  all,"  it  says,  "the  conflict  is  a  doubtful  one. 
Man  is  weak  at  best;  he  must  often  fall.  Why  pro- 
long the  useless  combat?  Let  us  not  attempt  the 
impossible.  Such  a  character,  if  it  shall  ever  be 
man's,  will  be  his  only  in  another  world,  in  some 
far  distant  golden  age.  Let  us  live,  therefore,  in 
the  present;  content  with  such  worldly  goodness  as 
we  can  at  present  easily  attain." 

Who  does  not  know  the  spirit  I  am  attempting  to 
describe?  Who  of  us  has  not  felt  the  temptation  to 
yield  to  it:  a  contentment  with  present  attainment, 
based  upon  the  impossibility  of  making  actual  the 
ideal  we  see  in  our  Lord  ?  No  spirit  could  be  further 
than  is  this  from  the  spirit  of  the  Gospel.  The  Word 
of  God  does  tell  us,  that  we  can  not  finish  this  tower 
of  character  now.  But  it  bids  us  look  to  the  future, 
assured  that,  when  Christ  shall  appear,  we  shall  be 
like  Him;  and  calls  us  to  work  and  wait  and  pray, 
neither  content  with  present  attainment,  nor  expect- 
ing perfection  on  earth.  And  this  is  hard; — to  toil 
and  fight,  knowing  that  to-morrow  and  to-morrow 
we  must  toil  and  fight,  overcoming  the  same  obsta- 
cles, conquering  the  same  foes,  until  the  end  of  the 
present  life;  to  continue  the  conflict  though  the  ter- 
mination of  struggle  recedes  as  we  advance.  Yet 
just  this  sacrifice  of  rest  in  what  we  can  accomplish 
now  is  an  essential  part  of  this  disciplcship. 

And  now,  friends,  let  us  who  have  made  profes- 
sion of  this  discipleship,  ask  ourselves,  are  we  liv- 
ing this  Christian  life  as  those  who  have  counted 
the  cost  of  it?  Do  we  think  of  it  as  a  life  in  which 
every  thing  else  is  subordinated  to  the  attainment 
of  this  Christ-like  spirit,  and  do  we  subordinate 
every  thing?    Are  we  ready  with  the  humbling  con- 


196  SERMONS    ON    THE    CHRISTIAN   LIFE. 

fession,  that  we  are  not  equal  to  it,  and  must  have 
the  might  of  God  to  aid  us:  and  do  we  seek  that 
aid  in  earnest  prayer?  Do  we  realize  that  we  are 
engaged  in  a  conflict  in  which  we  can  expect  a 
complete  triumph  only  hereafter;  and  are  we  living 
for  the  future  ?  What  a  solemn  thing  it  is  to  be  a 
disciple  of  Christ!  This  parable  of  the  Lord  sup- 
poses an  awful  possibility — the  possibility  of  begin- 
ning this  building  without  counting  the  cost,  of 
giving  up  in  despair,  and  of  standing  at  last  like 
the  decaying  tower,  of  which  men  say,  mockingly: 
"  That  man  began  to  build,  but  was  unable  *to  fin- 
ish." I  will  not  attempt  to  interpret  this  part  of 
the  parable.  I  will  say  of  it  only,  that  it  contains 
a  solemn  warning,  which  should  stimulate  us  to 
deeper  devotion,  to  labors  more  abundant,  to  pray- 
ers more  agonizing;  fearing  the  dread  decay  and 
ruin,  the  possibility  of  which  the  gracious  Lord  him- 
self announces. 

I  dare  not  conclude  these  remarks  without  one 
word  to  any,  who  may  have  been  dangerously  ask- 
ing themselves  the  question:  "But  is  the  discipleship 
worth  the  cost?"  Such  questions  may  be  considered, 
even  though  the  soul  dare  not  put  them  in  words. 
And  it  would  not  be  strange  if  some  here  were, 
half-consciously,  letting  this  be  a  question.  Permit 
me  to  reply,  that  self-denial,  struggle,  labor,  are  inci- 
dent to  every  triumph  in  this  world.  You  can  not 
gain  wealth  without  them.  You  can  not  attain  any 
thing  that  men  count  worth  attainment  without  them. 
And,  after  all,  the  soul  must  struggle  for  something. 
What  it  possesses  of  power  must,  by  a  law  of  its 
own  nature,  be  put  forth  for  some  object.  The  ques- 
tion, then,  is  not,  how  hard  shall  we  labor,  and  how 
thoroughly  shall  we  deny  ourselves,  but,  what  shall 


THE   COST   OF   DISCIPLESHIP.  197 

we  labor  and  sacrifice  ourselves  for?  For  character, 
or  something  lower?  In  the  strength  of  Christ,  or 
in  our  own  weakness  ?  For  the  rewards  of  time,  or 
the  glories  of  eternal  life?  To  ask  is  to  answer  the 
question. 


XIII. 
THE  CHRISTIAN  CONTENTMENT. 

"  I  have  learned  in  whatsoever  state  I  am,  therewith  to  be  con- 
tent. I  know  both  how  to  be  abased,  and  I  know  how  to  abound; 
everywhere  and  in  all  things  I  am  instructed  both  to  be  full  and 
to  be  hungry,  both  to  abound  and  to  suffer  need.  I  can  do 
all  things  through  Christ,  which  strengthened  me." — Philippi- 
ans  iv,  11,  12,  13. 

If  these  words  of  Paul  are  not  mere  boasting,  if 
they  are  the  truthful  expression  of  what  the  Apostle 
felt,  they  certainly  deserve  our  most  careful  study. 
Here  is  a  man,  who,  for  thirty  years,  has  been  under- 
going hardships  of  no  ordinary  character.  His  act- 
ive labors  have  been  intermitted,  only  when  he  has 
been  enduring  persecutions.  There  are  few  passages 
in  literature,  more  touching  than  the  one  written  a 
few  years  before  this,  in  which  he  contrasts  his  minis- 
try with  those,  who,  in  Corinth,  had  sought — and  with 
some  success — to  undermine  his  influence  with  the 
Church  which  he  had  established  in  that  city.  "Are 
they  ministers  of  Christ?  I  am  more;  in  labors  more 
abundant,  in  stripes  above  measure,  in  prisons  more 
frequent,  in  deaths  oft.  Beside  those  things  which 
are  without,  that  which  cometh  upon  me  daily,  the 
care  of  all  the  churches." 

(198) 


THE    CHRISTIAN    CONTENTMENT.  199 

Here  is  a  life  marked  by  violent  transitions,  and 
filled  with  sufferings.  If  ever  a  man  had  a  right  to 
complain ;  if  ever  a  man  had  excuse  for  bitterness, 
for  cynicism,  that  man  was  the  Apostle  to  the  Gen- 
tiles. There  is  no  one  of  us,  who  would  not  feel 
bound  to  hold  back  the  story  of  his  own  distresses, 
before  the  recital  of  a  career  like  his.  "We  could 
easily  pardon,  indeed,  we  could  applaud  the  murmur- 
ings  of  such  a  man.  But  of  murmurings  we  do  not 
hear  a  word.  A  prisoner  chained  to  a  Roman  sol- 
dier, and  awaiting  a  trial  which  he  must  have  feared 
would  result  adversely  to  him ;  his  only  reference  to 
his  imprisonment  is  one  of  the  most  cheerful  char- 
acter. "I  would  ye  should  understand,  brethren,  that 
my  bonds  have  fallen  out  to  the  furtherance  of  the 
Gospel;"  deprecating,  as  best  he  could,  any  undue 
sorrow  which  his  friends  at  Philippi  might  feel  in 
view  of  his  present  condition.  And  when  he  writes 
of  their  kindness — fearing  that  it  was  due  to  their 
anxiety  for  his  mental  state — he  makes  haste  to 
assure  them,  in  the  text,  that  he  has  learned,  in 
whatever  state  he  is,  therewith  to  be  content. 

We  could  consider  no  more  practical  subject  than 
the  subject  which  the  text  thus  suggests;  the  subject 
of  Christian  contentment  as  illustrated  by  the  life  of 
Paul.  I  shall  confine  myself  to  two  points:  the 
nature  of  this  coutentment,  and  the  method  of  attain- 
ing it. 

I.  What  is  this  contentment  which  the  Apostle 
here  affirms  of  himself?  We  shall  best  answer  this 
question,  by  translating  the  sentence  literally.  So 
translated  it  is  as  follows:  "I  have  learned,  in  what- 
ever state  I  am,  to  be  strong  in  myself."  The  condi- 
tion is  one  of  independence  of  outward  and  worldly 
surroundings.      The  state   is  not  satisfaction.      For 


200  SERMONS   ON   THE   CHRISTIAN   LIFE. 

satisfaction  implies  a  harmony  between  one's  self  and 
one's  circumstances.  In  satisfaction  the  outward  and 
the  inward  blend.  We  shall  never  be  satisfied  in  this 
world.  Only  when — made  meet  for  the  inheritance 
of  the  saints  in  light — the  inheritance  shall  be  ours; 
only  when,  to  the  perfect  life  of  the  soul,  shall  be  added 
the  joys  of  the  city  of  God,  shall  we  know  the  mean- 
ing of  satisfaction.  What  heaven  is,  and  where  it 
is,  have  not  been  clearly  revealed  in  the  Word  of 
God.  For  a  reason,  which  is  quite  obvious,  the 
details  of  its  outward  glory  have  been  veiled  from 
the  view  of  man.  We  can  easily  understand,  that 
had  they  been  made  known,  man  would  have  dwelt 
on  them,  instead  of  on  the  spirit  requisite  to  enjoy 
them;  on  the  streets  of  gold  and  gates  of  pearl,  and 
the  glory  and  honor  of  the  kings  of  the  earth, 
which  shall  contribute  to  the  beauty  of  the  celestial 
city,  rather  than  on  the  holiness,  without  which  no 
man  can  see  God.  Thus  the  discipline  of  life  would 
have  been  lost.  So  the  Israelites  were  held  to  the 
desert,  and  were  not  permitted  a  view  of  the  land  of 
promise,  during  the  period  of  their  education;  else 
they  had  pressed  forward  to  Canaan,  and  claimed  the 
fulfillment  of  the  promise,  before  they  were  ready  to 
begin  their  new  life.  Far  the  same  reason,  God  has 
told  us  little  of  the  life  that  is  to  come.  But  this 
much  Ave  know  of  it,  that  there  wTill  be  a  perfect 
adjustment  between  the  soul  and  the  outward  things 
that  surround  it;  a  harmony  complete  between  man 
and  his  circumstances.  The  delight  which  we  now 
only  anticipate,  as  we  look  forward  to  the  future, 
will  then  be  felt.  Faith  and  hope  will  be  sight  and 
fruition.  Then,  and  then  alone,  we  shall  be  satisfied. 
In  this  world  this  satisfaction  is  impossible.  The 
adjustment,  the  harmony  is  wanting.    There  is  a  con- 


THE    CHRISTIAN    CONTENTMENT.  201 

tinual  clashing  between  what  man  desires  and  what 
man  possesses.  It  is  impossible  that  a  being  with 
spiritual  vision  and  appetite  like  man's  should  be  sat- 
isfied with  this  world.  And,  therefore,  the  Word  of 
God  does  not  demand  it.  On  the  contrary,  it  bids 
man  look  forward  to  another  life  and  another  world. 
It  makes  satisfaction  here  less  possible,  if  that  could 
be,  by  revealing  a  future,  with  whose  glory  the  suf- 
ferings of  this  present  time  are  not  worthy  to  be 
compared.  And  all  its  representations  are  deter- 
mined by  the  endeavor  to  induce  him  to  take  his 
supreme  affections  from  the  earth,  and  to  set  them 
on  things  above,  where  Christ  sitteth  at  the  right 
hand  of  God.  We  must  not,  therefore,  think  of 
the  contentment  of  St.  Paul  as  satisfaction,  or  as  at 
all  allied  to  it.  It  is  rather  to  be  contrasted  with  it. 
It  was  content  in  the  midst  of  that,  with  which  he 
had  every  reason  to  be  dissatisfied;  from  which  he 
was  taught  to  look  away;  and  from  which,  in  fact, 
he  did  gladly  look  for  relief,  in  that  death  which  he 
said  would  be  gain  to  him. 

Nor  was  Paul's  contentment  a  mere  indolent  res- 
ignation of  himself  to  present  sufferings;  as  though 
he  thought  one  set  of  circumstances  in  this  life 
quite  as  desirable  as  another ;  as  though  he  found 
it  quite  as  enjoyable  to  be  a  prisoner  at  Rome,  as 
he  found  it  to  be  the  loved  and  cherished  Apostle 
of  Christ  at  Philippi ;  as  though  hunger  and  ship- 
wreck were  as  comfortable  as  any  other  conditions. 
There  are  those,  to  whom  contentment  seems  synony- 
mous with  lack  of  ambition  or  desire;  the  death  of 
appetite  and  passion;  the  indisposition  to  remedy 
existing  ills.  In  this  view  of  it,  the  one  way  in  which 
a  man  suffering  with  poverty,  can  manifest  his  con- 
tentment, is  to  neglect  all  labor  requisite  to  its  re- 


202  SERMONS    ON    THE    CHRISTIAN   LIFE. 

moval.  I  am  sure  that  I  need  not  stop  to  show,  that 
this  is  far  removed  from  the  contentment,  which  the 
.New  Testament  exalts  to  a  position  among  the  Chris- 
tian graces;  and  which,  with  godliness,  it  declares 
to  be  great  gain.  It  never  eulogizes  sluggishness  or 
indolence. 

Nor,  if  we  study  the  life  of  Paul,  can  we  confound 
his  spirit  with  that  hard,  severe  control  of  his  lower 
nature,  which  he  knew  as  the  outcome  of  Stoicism. 
There  was  something  sublime  in  that  silent,  uncom- 
plaining suffering;  in  that  stern  indifference  to  pain 
and  affliction  of  every  kind,  which  was  the  highest 
practical  lesson  of  Greek  philosophy.  There  was 
none  of  it  in  the  man,  who,  tortured  with  the  thorn 
in  his  flesh,  cried  out  to  God  in  agony  for  relief.  Sto- 
icism would  have  commended  silence;  and,  had  it 
taught  the  power  of  prayer,  would  still  have  for- 
bidden its  exercise  to  escape  the  pain,  which,  it 
instructed  its  disciples,  man  should  bear  without  a 
protest. 

Christian  contentment,  then,  is  neither  satisfaction, 
nor  indolent  resignation,  nor  stoical  indifference. 
The  first  is  impossible,  the  second  is  sinful,  and  the 
third  is  hard  and  forbidding.  "I  have  learned,"  said 
the  Apostle,  "in  whatever  state  I  am,  therein  to  be 
self-sufficing."  A  life  of  contentment  is  a  life  supe- 
rior to  externals,  to  surroundings.  It  is  a  life  in 
which  one  stands  above  the  world,  and  all  that  it  can 
do  for  or  against  him.  We  must  be  the  masters  or 
the  slaves  of  circumstance.  We  must  depend  upon 
them;  or,  self-sufficing,  we  must  rise  above  them. 
The  former  condition  is  the  condition  of  most  men. 
Paul  was  one  of  the  few  who  attained  the  latter. 

Let  us  look  into  our  lives  and  hearts,  friends,  that 
we  may  understand  the  exalted  state  of  the  man  who 


THE    CHRISTIAN    CONTENTMENT.  203 

could  make  these  words  his  own:  "I  have  learned,  in 
whatsoever  state  I  am,  therewith  to  be  content. 
Everywhere,  and  in  all  things,  I  am  instructed,  both 
to  abound  and  to  sutler  need."  Mark  the  force  of  the 
declaration :  "  everywhere  and  in  all  things,"  I  am 
content.  How  far  he  is  in  advance  of  every  one  of 
us!  "What  an  absolutely  controlling  influence  out- 
ward circumstances  exert  on  most  of  us !  Who  of 
us  could  face  sickness,  hunger,  bankruptcy,  the  pes- 
tilence, with  unquailing  spirits?  Yet,  just  this  is 
the  power  which  the  Apostle  affirmed  of  himself 
when  he  wrote  the  words:  "I  can  do  all  things 
through  Christ,  which  strengthened  me."  It  is,  as 
if  he  had  said  :  "  My  happiness  is  dependent  on  noth- 
ing in  the  world  around  me.  No  burden  that  the 
world  can  lay  upon  me ;  no  bereavement  that  I  can 
suffer;  no  pain  which  can  be  inflicted;  no  disap- 
pointment that  I  can  experience  can  disturb  the 
central  and  supreme  joy  of  my  spirit.  The  sources 
of  my  highest  happiness  are  beyond  the  reach  of 
all  of  them.  In  whatever  state  I  am,  I  find  these 
remaining.  I  am  self-sufficing.  I  have  learned  to 
be  content." 

How  far  any  one  of  us  is  from  this  condition,  can 
be  easily  ascertained.  Each  can  make  suppositions 
for  himself.  You  are  enjoying  a  competence  to- 
day; suppose  that  to-morrow  it  should  be  swept 
away.  In  its  removal  you  would  learn  how  much 
of  the  happiness  of  your  life  was  dependent  on 
wealth.  The  despair  and  bitterness  of  your  soul 
would  teach  you  your  distance  from  the  Apostle.  Or 
look  forward  to  the  time  when  the  home,  in  which 
you  now  delight,  shall  be  entered  by  death ;  and  one 
whom  you  love  shall  be  suddenly  removed  to 
another  world.     The  difficulty  which  you  will  then 


204  SERMONS    ON   THE    CHRISTIAN    LIFE. 

experience  in  saying:  "Thy  will,  0  God,  be  done," 
will  reveal  to  you  how  hard  the  lesson  is  which 
Paul  dares  to  say  that  he  has  learned.  Or  your  life 
is  one  of  contined  activity.  You  rejoice  in  labor,  in 
enterprises  which  demand  the  forth-putting  of  all 
your  powers.  Suppose  your  powers  blasted  by  disease 
in  the  midst  of  labors  which  seem  to  you  as  life 
itself;  and  ask  yourself:  "Could  I  say,  I  am  content; 
I  am  still  self-sufficing?" 

Suppositions  like  these  will  serve  to  show  us,  how 
far  almost  every  one  is,  from  having  attained  the 
height,  on  which  the  man  stood,  who  wrote  this 
Epistle  to  the  Philippians.  The  oftener  I  read  this 
declaration,  the  more  I  marvel  at  its  boldness.  It 
seems  rather  the  unthinking  outburst  of  youthful 
confidence,  than  the  sober  statement  of  one,  who  had 
learned  by  bitter  experience,  how  much  the  world  can 
do  to  invade  and  destroy  the  sources  of  human  happi- 
ness. And  the  statement  is  the  more  remarkable  when 
we  notice — what  is  very  plain — that  there  is  no  bitter- 
ness in  it.  It  is  not  the  statement  of  one  who,  like 
Solomon,  had  tasted  the  joys  of  life  and  found  them 
vanity,  and  cried  out  bitterly  in  disappointment — all 
is  vanity  and  vexation  of  spirit.  There  is  a  spurious 
contentment,  which  is  the  result  of  disappointment 
only;  which  undervalues  the  power  of  surroundings 
to  bestow  happiness.  There  is  a  cynicism  which 
would  find  a  hovel  and  palace  alike  in  this,  that 
neither  would  give  joy.  And  there  is  a  morbid 
asceticism  which  turns  from  all  worldly  joys  as  from 
sin.  There  is  not  the  least  taint  of  either  in  the 
words  of  Paul.  The  text  is  an  echo  neither  of 
Jacob's  "  Few  and  evil  have  the  days  of  my  life 
been,"  nor  of  the  Preacher's  "Vanity  of  vanities,  all 
is  vanity."     Nor  the  expression  of  one  who  has  for- 


THE   CHRISTIAN    CONTENTMENT.  205 

sworn  the  joys  of  this  world.  The  words  are  cheer- 
ful. Moreover,  they  are  connected  with  an  expression 
of  grateful  joy  for  relief  from  impending  physical 
want,  which  the  Philippian  Christians  had  sent  to 
him  in  his  captivity.  The  contentment,  then,  of 
which  St.  Paul  is  an  example,  is  the  contentment 
neither  of  bitterness,  nor  of  morbid  asceticism,  nor 
of  disappointment.  It  is  the  positive  power  of  find- 
ing, in  one's  self,  the  happiness  which  most  men  find 
in  things  around  them;  so  that,  when  sickness,  or 
sorrow,  or  bereavement  comes,  the  soul  rises  supe- 
rior to  its  power. 

I  need  not  stop  to  show  how  much  we  need 
this  contentment.  Each  day  reveals  its  absolute 
necessity,  in  order  to  real  joy.  The  world  changes 
hour  by  hour,  and  our  relations  to  it  change;  and, 
resting  as  we  do  in  these  relations,  happiness  and 
misery  alternate  perpetually.  Wt  are  the  victims  of 
circumstances,  which  are  inevitable.  And  as  we  suffer 
from  their  coming,  we  cry  out  for  power  to  say  with 
the  Apostle:  "I  have  learned,  in  whatsoever  state  I 
am,  therewith  to  be  content."  That  such  a  power  is 
possible,  is  evident  from  the  fact  that  Paul  possessed  it. 
Nay,  we  ourselves  have  witnessed  approaches  to  it. 
I  have  seen  men  and  women — calm  and  self-sustained 
in  the  midst  of  the  most  violent  and  terrible  transi- 
tions, in  change  of  fortune,  in  fatal  sickness,  in  be- 
reavement, in  the  hour  of  death  itself — content  that 
the  will  of  God  be  done. 

II.  And  this  brings  us  to  the  second  part  of  the 
subject,  namely,  the  source  of  Paul's  contentment;  of 
his  superiority  to  the  changes  of  his  changeful  life. 
He  himself  attributes  it  to  his  religious  life.  "I 
can  do  all  things  through  Christ,  which  strength- 
eneth  me."    The  elements  of  that  life  were  the  fount- 


206  SERMONS    ON    THE    CHRISTIAN   LIFE. 

ain  of  his  spiritual  power.  In  proportion  to  the 
vigor  of  his  religion,  was  his  ability  to  rise  above  all 
surroundings.  And  so  it  is  with  us.  Doubtless, 
without  a  real  Christian  faith,  it  is  possible  success- 
fully to  cultivate  a  hard,  forbidding,  stoical  indiffer- 
ence to  the  violent,  disappointing  changes  of  life. 
The  spirit,  which  leads  one,  without  hope  for  the 
future,  to  say:  "I  have  learned  to  accept  the  inev- 
itable without  cursing  fate.  I  have  been  taught,  both 
by  what  I  have  seen  and  by  what  I  have  felt,  to  be 
content  in  whatever  state  I  am" — this  spirit  has 
more  than  once  found  expression  in  an  ethical  sys- 
tem. There  is  possible,  therefore,  a  fortitude  born 
of  despair;  a  superiority  to  change,  which  owes 
nothing  to  faith.  "The  waves  of  mutation,"  accursed 
or  adored  by  most  men,  as  they  come  freighted  with 
burdens  or  blessings,  beat  upon  a  few  who  stand 
and  receive  the  shock  impassive  as  granite.  But 
even  if  this  state  were  one  which  all  could  attain,  it 
is  to  be  doubted  whether  it  is  a  desirable  condition. 
The  man  who,  for  this  reason,  is  insensible  to  woe, 
will  be  just  as  insensible  to  the  happiness  which 
comes  from  surroundings.  There  is  no  cheerfulness, 
no  hope,  no  joy,  in  such  contentment.  This  is  not 
the  joyful  resignation  of  the  Apostle  Paul.  It  is  at 
the  greatest  possible  remove  from  it.  And  it  is  not 
what  we  need  to  make  this  life  more  blessed.  You 
do  not  increase  joy  by  dulling  sensibility,  in  order  to 
make  yourself  indifferent  to  affliction.  AVe  want  a 
contentment  that  will  enable  us,  as  Paul  did,  to  re- 
joice in  tribulation.  And  therefore,  I  repeat,  we  must 
look  for  its  source  in  the  elements  of  a  Christian 
life.  Here  Paul  found  the  fountain  of  contentment; 
and  here,  friends,  must  we  find  it. 

I  have  said  that  Paul's   contentment   was  a  self- 


THE   CHRISTIAN   CONTENTMENT.  207 

sufficiency.  And  it  may  seem  inconsistent  with  this 
statement  to  say,  that  the  source  of  his  sufficiency 
was  his  religion ;  something  outside  of  himself.  But 
the  harmony  of  the  two  statements  will  be  evident 
if  we  remember  that  Paul's  religion  was  not  so 
much  a  possession,  as  a  part  of  his  being.  His 
Christianity  was  his  habit  of  mind,  his  view  of 
life,  his  faith  in  God  the  Father  and  in  the  Son  of 
God  his  Saviour.  It  was  because  this  faith  was  thor- 
oughly his,  because  his  life — his  views  and  hopes 
and  activities — were  molded  by  it,  that  he  was  self- 
sufficient;  finding  his  supreme  joy  in  what  he  was 
and  felt,  whatever  he  lacked  or  possessed  of  worldly 
good.  And,  if  we  study  this  Christian  life,  which 
was  so  thoroughly  Paul's  life,  examining  its  ele- 
ments, our  wonder  that  he  was  able  to  make  the 
remarkable  declaration:  "I  have  learned,  in  whatso- 
ever state  I  am,  therewith  to  be  content,"  will  soon 
abate. 

For  first,  Paul's  religious  life,  so  far  as  the  element 
of  belief  was  concerned,  included  an  unfaltering 
faith,  that  his  surroundings  were  appointed  for  the 
purpose  of  securing  his  eternal  blessedness.  This,  in 
Paul's  view,  was  their  God-appointed  mission;  and, 
therefore,  their  profoundest  significance.  No  one  can 
read  his  life  or  his  Epistles,  without  recognizing  the 
fact  that  this  faith  was  as  much  a  part  of  himself,  as 
his  belief  in  his  own  existence.  Indeed,  he  is  always 
intent  on  discovering,  if  possible,  and  on  declaring 
the  gracious  meaning  of  God's  dealings  with  him. 
It  was  this  habit  of  mind  that  led  him,  when  writing 
of  his  imprisonment,  to  justify  the  providence  of 
God  which  permitted  him  to  become  a  captive  at 
Rome.  In  the  same  faith,  he  writes  of  that  lacerating 
thorn,  whose  painfullness  had  called  forth  the  thrice- 


208  SERMONS    ON    THE    CHRISTIAN   LIFE. 

repeated  prayer  for  its  removal:  "Most  gladly  will  I 
glory  in  miue  infirmities,  therefore,  that  the  power 
of  God  and  of  glory  may  rest  upon  me."  His  faith 
that  God  directs  all  events  to  contribute  to  this  benefi- 
cent result,  is  so  strong,  that  he  writes  of  it,  as 
though  it  were  a  matter,  not  of  belief,  but  of  knowl- 
edge. "We  know  that  all  things  work  together  for 
good  to  them  that  love  God."  Can  we  wonder  that 
a  man  with  a  faith  so  overmastering  in  a  truth  so 
inspiring  could  say:  "I  have  learned,  in  whatsoever 
state  I  am,  therewith  to  be  content"?  It  had  been 
impossible  for  him  not  to  be  content.  In  abasement 
as  in  abundance,  in  shipwreck,  in  captivity  at  Rome, 
under  the  rod  of  the  executioner,  or  in  persecution 
from  his  countrymen,  he  was  contented,  because  of 
his  conviction,  that  these  were  necessary  disciplines 
in  the  education  of  his  soul  for  the  far  more  exceed- 
ing and  eternal  weight  of  glory. 

Christian  friends,  if  you  and  I  have  not  attained 
this  contentment;  if  we  are  still  the  slaves  of  change 
and  circumstance;  if  our  highest  happiness  is  de- 
pendent on  what  we  possess; — we  may  not  irra- 
tionally charge  our  enslavement  to  this  want  of 
vivid  faith  in  God,  and  in  what  he  has  most  clearly 
taught  us  concerning  his  gracious  government.  Con- 
tentment may  be  a  very  exceptional  Christian  grace; 
but  if  it  is,  the  reason  is  not  far  to  seek  or  hard  to 
find.  Most  often  we  need  go  no  farther  than  to  the 
primal  Christian  grace.  We  disbelieve;  or,  if  we  do 
not  disbelieve,  we  doubt;  or,  if  we  do  not  doubt,  our 
faith  is  dormant,  and  therefore  powerless.  lam  quite 
well  aware  that  I  am  uttering  the  veriest  common- 
places of  religion.  But  it  is  just  these  commonplaces 
that  we  need  most  often  to  ponder.  We  need  to  hold 
them  distinctly  before  us  until  we  are  awake  to  their 


THE    CHRISTIAN    CONTENTMENT.  209 

meaning.  And  this  is  one  of  them:  that  content- 
ment— the  nobility  of  soul  that  makes  man  supe- 
rior to  surroundings — the  triumph  of  the  spirit  over 
matter  and  time  and  change  and  death — is  the 
fruit  of  faith  in  God.  Holding  this  truth  before 
us,  let  us  offer,  with  fervor  and  importunity,  the 
prayer  that  always  befits  disciples:  "Lord,  increase 
our  faith." 

To  this  faith  in  God,  let  us  add,  as  a  second  source 
of  the  Apostle's  contentment,  the  fact  that  Paul's 
most  earnest  labors  as  a  Christian  were  labors  for 
objects,  which  the  changes  of  life  could  not  affect. 
This  labor  was  another  element  of  the  Apostle's  re- 
ligious life.  Because  his  trust  was  in  the  eternal 
God,  he  gave  himself  to  the  eternal  Kingdom  of 
God.  The  disappointments  and  consequent  discon- 
tent of  men  are  not  seldom  born  of  the  futility  of 
their  forth -puttings.  Men  are  as  often  embittered  by 
failures,  following  earnest  and  sustained  effort,  as  by 
any  cause.  But  here  is  a  man  who  subordinates  all 
lower  labors  to  the  endeavor  to  build  up  the  king- 
dom of  righteousness.  "Why  should  he  not  have  little 
concern  for  outward  surroundings?  Why  should  not 
the  Apostle,  burning  with  this  one  holy  ambition, 
intent  upon  this  one  great  work,  know  how  to  be 
abased  and  how  to  abound?  And  may  not  some  of 
us  find  in  Christian  activity  for  the  spiritual  wel- 
fare of  our  fellow-men,  the  one  power  we  need  in 
order  to  rise  above  the  circumstances  that  now  de- 
press or  embitter  us?  The  soul,  engaged  in  work  for 
other  souls,  is  always  superior  to  lower  wants.  What 
a  lesson  for  us  all  is  that  taught  by  the  story  of 
Christ  at  the  well  at  Sychar!  So  absorbed  was  He 
in  seeking  the  salvation  of  a  fallen  woman,  that  the 
wants  of  his  body  were  forgotten.     "My  meat  and 


210  SERMONS    ON    THE    CHRISTIAN    LIFE. 

drink,"  said  He,  "  is  to  do  the  will  of  Him  that  sent 
me,  and  to  finish  his  work."  Thus  the  spiritual  la- 
bors, which  laid  under  tribute  all  his  powers,  enabled 
Paul  to  say :  "  I  have  learned,  in  whatsoever  state  I 
am,  therewith  to  be  content." 

Let  us  notice,  as  another  element  of  Paul's  Chris- 
tianity, the  fact  that  his  life,  so  far  as  it  was  con- 
templative, was  the  contemplation  of  great  spiritual 
verities.  It  was  not  only  true  that  he  had  faith  in 
God,  and  labored  for  the  redemption  of  his  fellow- 
men,  but  his  meditations  were  unworldly.  He  lived 
in  the  atmosphere  of  heaven;  he  looked  at  the  un- 
seen and  eternal.  His  daily  thoughts  were  closely 
related  to  the  great  truths  of  holiness,  of  mercy,  of 
the  revelation  of  God's  grace  to  the  world.  There 
is  a  habit  of  mind,  called  spiritual  mindedness,  which 
the  Word  of  God  assures  us  is  itself  "life  and  peace." 
The  man  who  possesses  "the  mind  of  the  spirit" 
easily  turns  away  from  other  subjects  to  the  contem- 
plation of  God's  great  revelation  of  mercy.  Such  a 
man  was  Paul.  And  because  the  changes  of  this  life 
were  secondary  and  subordinate  subjects  of  thought, 
it  was  easy  for -him  to  be  content  in  the  midst  of 
them.  The  thoughts  of  truths  that  never  change 
sustained  him,  and  made  him  superior  to  them  all. 

Consider,  finally,  the  emotional  element  of  Paul's 
religious  life.  As  his  faith  was  in  the  eternal  God, 
as  his  labors  were  given  to  God's  eternal  Kingdom, 
as  his  thoughts  were  employed  on  spiritual  and  eter- 
nal truth,  so,  also,  his  affections  were  called  out  most 
powerfully  by  the  spiritual  and  eternal  world.  His 
profoundest  love  was  the  love  of  holiness,  and  his 
deepest  hate  was  the  hatred  of  sin.  His  sorrow  for 
the  sinner  was  his  greatest  sorrow,  his  joy  in  reap- 
pearing holiness  was  his  highest  joy.     His  outgoing 


THE    CHRISTIAN    CONTENTMENT.  211 

love  sought,  as  its  chief  objects,  the  spiritual  God, 
and  the  immortal  spirits  of  his  fellow-men.  It  was 
chiefly,  because  of  this  habit  of  spiritual  affection,  that 
Paul  was  able  to  say :  "  In  whatsoever  state  I  am,  I  am 
content."  For,  apart  from  the  satisfying  character  of 
their  objects,  there  is  a  calmness  in  spiritual  emo- 
tions— regarded  simply  as  movements  of  the  soul — 
which  is  in  the  highest  degree  favorable  to  the  culti- 
vation of  contentment.  Imaginative  emotions — that 
is  to  say,  emotions  called  out  by  material  images — 
are  so  closely  connected  with  the  bodily  life,  that  they 
are  attended  by  physical  excitements,  strong  in  the 
ratio  of  the  emotions'  intensity ;  and  they  are  followed 
by  proportionate  depressions.  But,  to  quote  the  words 
of  another :  *  "  The  emotions  which  strictly  attach 
to  the  moral  sense,  and  which  have  no  connection 
with  the  imagination  or  the  selfish  passions — though 
they  do  affect  the  physical  frame  when  they  are  in- 
tense— do  so  in  a  manner  that  is  tranquil  and  safe, 
both  to  the  body  and  the  mind.  Indeed,  the  agitation 
of  the  body  is  greater  in  the  first  movements  of  the 
moral  emotion,  than  it  is  afterwards;  and  though,  on 
a  sudden  occasion  of  spiritual  feeling,  the  pulse  may 
be  accelerated,  this  movement  subsides  even  while 
the  spiritual  feeling  is  becoming  more  and  more 
acute."  If  this  is  true — and  only  slight  reflection  is 
needed  to  make  its  truth  obvious — the  habit  of  spir- 
itual emotion  will  inevitably  produce  tranquillity  of 
temper ;  will  diminish  the  liability  to  weak  and  fever- 
ish excitements,  and, — so  far  as  it  is  a  habit, — confer 
what  Paul  calls  a  "  a  self-sufficing,"  a  contentment 
of  the  spirit  in  the  midst  of  all  surroundings. 

But  the  close  relation  between  the  spiritual  affec- 

*  Isaac  Taylor:  "Saturday  Evening,"  the  paper  on  the  "  Dis- 
solution of  Human  Nature." 


212  SERMONS   ON   THE    CHRISTIAN   LITE. 

tions  and  contentment  is  seen,  only  when  we  contrast 
their  objects  with  the  objects  of  the  lower  affections — 
the  physical  appetites  and  desires — which  the  world 
at  large  labors  most  unweariedly  to  gratify.  The 
spiritual  world  is  not  only  the  eternal  world ;  it  is 
also  the  world  of  eternal  objects;  of  objects  of  which 
it  has  been  well  said:  "time  wasteth  them  not;  but 
improveth  the  sense  of  their  unfading  beauty  and  in- 
defectible sweetness."  So  have  all  its  lovers  found  the 
spiritual  world;  and,  therefore,  in  proportion  to  their 
spiritual  affection,  they  have  attained  contentment. 
But  what  of  men  who  have  loved  with  their  deep- 
est love,  the  seen  and  the  temporal?  Has  not  the 
present  world  revealed  itself  to  its  most  ardent  wor- 
shipers, at  last,  as  the  vanity  of  vanities?  "This," 
says  Isaac  Barrow,  "according  to  continual  experi- 
ence, is  the  nature  of  all  things,  pleasant  only  to  the 
sense  or  fancy — presently  to  satiate.  No  beauty  can 
long  please  the  eye;  no  melody  the  ear;  no  delicacy 
the  palate;  no  curiosity  the  fancy.  A  little  time  doth 
waste  away,  a  small  use  doth  wear  out  the  pleasure, 
which  at  n'rst  they  afford.  Novelty  commendeth  and 
ingratiateth  them ;  distance  representeth  them  fair 
and  lovely;  the  want  or  absence  of  them  rendereth 
them  desirable.  But  the  presence  of  them  dulleth 
their  grace,  the  possession  of  them  deadeneth  the 
appetite  to  them." 

There  are  subordinate  sources  of  contentment,  of 
which  I  might  have  spoken;  as,  for  example,  the 
consideration  of  our  general  mercies;  or  the  contem- 
plation of  the  special  gifts  of  God.  But  I  have 
thought  it  better  to  dwell  rather  on  its  primal 
source;  namely,  the  Christian  life,  which,  above  all 
else,  is  spiritual  in  thought,  in  labor,  in  faith,  and 
love.     Contentment,  born  of  this  Christian  life,  is  the 


THE    CHRISTIAN    CONTENTMENT.  213 

highest  triumph,  possible  in  this  world,  of  spirit  over 
the  lower  life.  For  the  triumph  is  due  to  the  spirit's 
concord  with  the  law  and  the  life  of  the  spiritual 
God.  This  was  the  contentment  of  Paul.  No  other 
is  worth  possessing;  no  other  is  worthy  of  the  name. 
Dear  friends,  we  wonder  that  we  are  the  sport  of 
time  and  change;  that  happiness  and  misery  alter- 
nate in  such  rapid  succession.  To-day  we  are  raised 
to  heights  of  ecstatic  joy ;  to-morrow  we  cry  out  of 
the  depths  of  woe.  We  read  of  one  who  said:  "I 
have  learned,  in  whatsoever  state  I  am,  therewith 
to  be  content."  We  marvel  at  his  triumph  over 
all  surroundings.  We  behold  him  overflowing  with 
joy,  though  a  prisoner  in  chains.  We  turn  to  our- 
selves. Each  disappointment  conquers  us.  Afflic- 
tion buries  us  in  despair.  Why  should  we  marvel 
at  all?  We  are  but  eating  of  the  fruit  of  our 
own  way;  we  are  but  filled  with  our  own  devices. 
Shall  I  give  my  soul  to  that  which  is  fleeting, 
and  wonder  that  I  sigh  when  it  has  vanished? 
Shall  I  live  for  the  world,  and  not  be  affected  by 
its  mutations?  Shall  I  give  my  life  to  riches,  and 
not  be  afflicted  when  they  fly  towards  heaven?  Con- 
tentment in  this  world !  There  can  be  no  such  thing  to 
any  one  who  makes  the  world  his  god.  Why  should 
we  be  amazed  at  our  weakness,  our  grief,  our  despair, 
our  forebodings,  when  disaster  comes?  The  cause  is 
apparent  as  the  sun  at  noonday.  And  the  remedy 
is  just  as  clear.  We  can  not  live  this  Christian  life 
of  ours  in  any  half-hearted  way,  and  still  be  strong 
in  the  day  of  trouble.  Paul's  contentment  was  real, 
because  his  faith  in  God  was  abiding;  because  his 
devotion  to  souls  was  entire;  because  he  lived  for 
the  unseen  and  eternal ;  because  his  deepest  affec- 
tions were  spiritual.      And  whenever  our  faith  and 


214  SERMONS    ON    THE    CHRISTIAN    LIFE. 

devotion  and  spiritual  mindedncss  and  love  shall  be 
what  bis  were,  we  too  sball  be  able  to  stand  serene 
and  strong,  in  the  presence  of  whatever  desolation 
shall  surround  us,  and  say,  not  bitterly  but  cheer- 
fully, rejoicing  in  tribulation:  "I  have  learned,  in 
whatsoever  state  I  am,  therewith  to  be  content.  I 
know  how  to  be  abased  and  how  to  abound.  I  can 
do  all  things  through  Christ,  which  strengtheneth 
me." 

"A  man's  life  consisteth  not  in  the  abundance  of 
the  things  which  he  possesseth."  Man,  under  the 
influence  of  indwelling  sin  and  the  tempting  world, 
labors  hard  to  persuade  himself  that  these  words  of 
the  Master  are  not  true.  The  Earth — which  Words- 
worth aptly  calls  the  nurse  and  foster-mother  of  man 
made  in  the  image  of  the  Highest — strives  hard  and, 
alas!  strives  successfully,  by  "filling  her  lap  with 
pleasures  of  her  own,"  to  turn  his  affections  to  her- 
self, and  away  from  the  God  from  whom,  "  trailing 
clouds  of  glory,"  he  has  come. 

"  The  homely  nurse  doth  all  she  can 
To  make  her  foster-child,  her  inmate,  man, 
Forget  the  glories  he  hath  known, 
And  that  imperial  palace  whence  he  came." 

But  Earth  can  neither  satisfy  nor  stifle  the  longings 
of  man's  spiritual  nature ;  though  she  may  deceive 
him,  for  the  time,  into  the  belief  that  she  can  endow 
him  with  contentment.  But  contented  he  is  not  and 
can  not  be,  until  his  spirit  rests  in  God.  And  he  can 
not  rest  in  God  the  Father,  until  he  believes  in  Jesus 
Christ  the  Son. 


xrv. 

THE  EARTHLY  LIFE  VIEWED  FROM 
HEAVEN. 

"  Thy  prayers  and  thine  alms  are  come  up  for  a  memorial  be- 
fore God." — Acts  x,  4. 

The  subject  which  these  words  suggest,  is  the 
earthly  life  as  viewed  from  heaven.  The  person 
speaking  is  a  celestial  being;  and  his  words  reveal 
both  the  fact  and  the  character  of  the  interest  which 
man's  career  on  earth  awakens  in  the  heavenly  world. 
"  Thy  prayers  and  thine  alms  are  come  up  for  a  memo- 
rial before  God."  This  subject,  we  shall  best  consider 
by  taking  up  the  words  themselves,  and  answering 
the  three  questions:  Who  uttered  them;  to  whom 
were  they  addressed;  and,  what  is  their  significance? 

I.  Who  uttered  them?  In  Cresarea  on  the  coast 
of  Palestine,  an  Italian  centurion  named  Cornelius 
commanded  a  company  of  the  Italian  Legion.  He 
was  not  a  Jewish  proselyte.  But  he  was  devout  and 
God-fearing;  and  his  religious  life  found  expression 
in  alms,  and  in  prayer.  Profoundly  dissatisfied  with 
heathenism,  and  seeking  an  outward  revelation  of  the 
God,  of  whose  existence  his  own  conscience  informed 
him,  he  was  at  this  time  rejoicing  in  a  knowledge  of 

(215) 


216  SERMONS   ON    THE    CHRISTIAN    LIFE. 

Jehovah;  but,  as  we  infer  from  the  narrative,  with- 
out conforming  to  the  Hebrew  ceremonial.  He  had 
found  God;  and,  leaping  the  bounds  of  the  ritual,  he 
worshiped  Him  directly  His  gratitude  for  this 
knowledge  of  God,  he  manifested  in  his  gifts  to  the 
poor;  and  his  soul's  needs  and  longings  he  poured 
forth  in  habitual  prayer.  £To  longer  a  heathen, 
but  not  yet  either  a  Jew  or  a  Christian,  he  was 
ready  for  the  clear  revelation  of  God  in  Jesus  Christ. 
To  Cornelius,  there  appeared,  not  in  a  dream  at 
night,  when  the  understanding  is  the  slave  of  the  im- 
agination, but  in  a  vision  of  the  day;  not  dimly  and 
uncertainly,  but  as  the  writer  is  careful  to  empha- 
size, "evidently" — to  Cornelius  there  appeared  an 
angel,  who  addressed  to  him  these  words :  "  Thy  pray- 
ers and  thine  alms  are  come  up  for  a  memorial  be- 
fore God." 

With  this  narrative  before  us,  we  can  not  ques- 
tion the  fact,  that  the  Bible  reveals  the  existence 
of  a  higher  order  of  beings  than  ourselves,  who  are 
interested  in  our  spiritual  welfare.  And,  indeed,  if 
we  close  the  Bible,  we  may  read  in  the  stars  another 
record,  well-fitted  to  predispose  us  to  a  belief  in 
their  existence.  It  were  the  climax  of  egotism, 
to  suppose  that  the  suns  and  systems,  that  roll  in 
infinite  space,  exist  for  the  benefit  of  man  alone. 
Thus  predisposed  to  believe  the  assertions  of  the 
Word  of  God  on  this  subject,  we  open  it,  and  find 
clearly  announced  the  existence,  not  of  one  order 
alone,  but  of  orders  of  superior  intelligences;  of 
thrones  and  dominions  and  principalities  and  pow- 
ers. We  learn  that  their  number  accords  with  the 
vastness  of  the  universe ;  and  that  their  power  and 
wisdom  far  transcend  those  of  man.  We  learn,  also, 
that  sin  has  appeared  among  them;  that  on  not  a  few 


THE    EARTIILY    LIFE    VIEWED    FROM   HEAVEN.       217 

has  fallen  the  righteous  wrath  of  God;  and  that  for 
them,  as  for  the  incorrigibly  wicked  among  men, 
awaits  the  judgment  of  the  last  day. 

But,  as  more  deeply  interesting  to  us,  and  as  the 
great  truth  illustrated  by  the  text,  the  Scriptures 
teach,  distinctly  and  repeatedly,  the  active  interest  of 
these  high  intelligences  in  the  spiritual  life  of  men 
aud  women.  "What  else  can  mean  the  affirmations, 
that  the  angels  desire  to  look  into  the  outworking 
of  the  redemption  Of  the  world  by  Christ;  that  they 
are  sent  forth  as  ministering  spirits  to  minister  to 
those  who  shall  be  heirs  of  salvation ;  that  there  is 
joy  in  the  presence  of  the  angels  of  God  over  one 
sinner  that  repenteth?  Moreover,  these  statements 
are  vividly  illustrated  in  the  recorded  lives  of  God's 
servants.  The  experience  of  Abraham  on  the  plain 
of  Mamre,  of  Jacob  at  Mahanaim,  of  Peter  in  the 
prison,  of  John  on  Patmos,  and  of  Jesus  in  the 
desert  and  the  garden,  all  testify  to  the  profound 
interest  of  the  angels  of  God  in  the  spiritual  con- 
flicts and  triumphs  of  men;  an  interest  not  only 
real,  but  helpful;  manifested  in  ministries  at  crises, 
when  dangers  and  temptations  demanded  the  exer- 
cise of  special  vigilance  and  power.  Nor  is  this  all. 
As  we  read  the  inspired  volume,  we  can  almost 
hear  the  thunderings  of  an  awful  war,  between 
those  angels  who  are  holy,  and  those  who  have 
fallen;  a  war,  whose  object  is  the  dominion  of  the 
souls  of  men;  a  war,  which  shall  cease  only  at  the 
consummation  of  all  things.  As  that  war  advances, 
you  and  I  are  subject  to  angelic  and  satanic  in- 
fluences and  suggestions ;  and  our  Christian  life 
becomes  a  struggle,  not  against  flesh  and  blood 
indeed,  but  against  principalities,  against  powers, 
against  the   rulers  of  the   darkness  of   this   world, 


218  SERMONS    ON    THE    CHRISTIAN   LIFE. 

against  spiritual  wickedness  in  high  places.*  With 
this  revelation  of  angelic  life  before  us,  we  are  not 
surprised  to  read,  that  to  this  devout  and  prayerful 
Centurion,  longing  for  a  clearer  vision  of  duty,  and 
a  deeper  knowledge  of  God,  there  appeared  an  angel, 
who  said :  "  Cornelius,  thy  prayers  and  thine  alms 
are  come  up  for  a  memorial  before  God." 

I  have  referred  to  the  character  and  offices  of  the 
class  of  beings,  to  which  the  one  here  speaking  be- 
longs, not  to  gratify  curiosity;  but  because  this  is 
one  of  the  many  side-lights  which  the  Bible  throws 
on  the  redemption  of  Christ,  for  the  purpose  of 
better  revealing  its  character.  That  must  be  a 
profoundly  serious  subject,  on  which  the  highest  in- 
telligences of  the  universe  employ  themselves,  in 
anxious  thought.  That  can  be  a  crisis  of  no  ordinary 
character  in  the  career  of  a  man  or  woman,  which 
evokes  the  joy  or  the  grief  of  the  angels  of  God. 
And  the  warfare,  in  which  you  and  I  as  Chris- 
tians are  engaged,  can  issue  in  none  other  than  re- 
sults of  lasting  and  tremendous  interest,  since,  in  its 
progress,  we  are  aided  or  attacked  by  thrones  and 
principalities  of  the  spiritual  world. 

Oh!  friends,  how  grievously  mistaken  is  our  ordi- 
nary estimate  of  what  is  really  great  in  life !  To- 
morrow and  through  all  the  week,  you  will  vex  your 
souls  and  weary  your  bodies,  in  order  to  attain  tem- 
porary and  incidental  happiness.  Thoughts  and  anx- 
ieties and  toils,  whose  highest  objects  are  described 
by  terms  like  money,  fame  and  leisure,  will  occupy 
you  from  Monday  morning  until  Saturday  night.  Oc- 
casionally you  may  be  surprised  into  spiritual  hopes 

*As  an  exposition  of  the  teachings  of  Scripture  on  the  rela- 
tion of  angels  to  the  life  of  man,  the  astronomical  discourses  of 
Chalmers  have  never  been  excelled. 


THE    EARTHLY   LIFE    VIEWED   FROM    HEAVEN.        219 

or  fears.  But  those  will  probably  be  soon  overborne 
by  the  rushing  tide  of  your  worldly  life.  Could  your 
spiritual  sight  be  quickened,  like  that  of  Elisha's  serv- 
ant, you  would  behold  far  loftier  beings  than  your- 
selves, anxiously  watching  your  movements  through 
the  week.  But  their  interest  rests  not  on  your  attain- 
ment of  wealth  and  fame  and  ease ;  save  as  these  are 
related  to  other  and  higher  objects.  Not  these,  but 
your  relations  to  God  and  his  righteousness,  the  issues 
of  your  life  in  the  world  to  come,  till  them  with  hope 
or  dread.  As  Paul  writing  to  Timothy — so  I  charge 
you  before  the  elect  angels.  Is  redemption  or  destruc- 
tion a  subject  for  mere  casual  reflection  on  your  part; 
if,  as  God  teaches  us,  our  relations  to  both  call  down 
to  earth  and  to  man's  aid,  the  morning  stars,  the 
ancients  of  heaven?  Would  that  we  might  awake 
to  an  appreciation  of  the  paramount  importance  of 
our  spiritual  relations  and  condition.  Would  you 
learn  how  transcendently  important  they  are  ?  Think 
of  the  motives  with  which  the  Bible  appeals  to  us 
to  consider  them.  At  one  time  it  tells  us  of  a  love 
too  great  for  man  to  conceive;  at  another,  of  a  sac- 
rifice too  costly  to  be  computed;  at  another,  of  a 
redemption  too  glorious  to  be  imagined;  and  again, 
of  a  destruction  too  fearful  to  be  described.  And 
again,  as  in  the  text,  it  reveals  the  deep  and  active, 
the  joyful  or  sorrowful  interest  in  our  daily  lives,  of 
the  loftiest  and  the  holiest  creatures  in  the  universe. 
O,  friends,  if  angels  stoop  to  aid  men  to  redemption ; 
if  the  crisis  of  our  souls  calls  forth  in  our  behalf  the 
might  of  these  sons  of  God,  how  shall  we  escape  if 
we  neglect  so  great  salvation  ? 

II.  Let  us  not  be  surprised  or  skeptical,  therefore, 
as  we  read,  that,  to  a  man  seeking  God  and  light, 
an  angel  appeared  and  said:  "Thy  prayers  and  thine 


220  SERMONS    ON    THE    CHRISTIAN    LIFE. 

alms  are  come  up  for  a  memorial  before  God."  And 
thus  we  are  brought  to  the  second  question  I  purpose 
to  answer:  To  whom  were  these  words  addressed? 
This  is  a  profoundly  interesting  question.  Here  is  a 
man  in  communion  with  heaven.  I  state  what  I  shall 
repeat,  when  I  add  that  he  is  blessed  with  a  message  of 
heaven's  approval,  and  is  promised  new  light  from 
God.  "We' may  well  ask  the  character  and  life  of  a 
man  so  highly  honored  and  so  greatly  blessed.  "What 
were  the  traits  that  called  down  this  spiritual  ben- 
ediction from  heaven  ? 

First,  lie  gave  heed  to  the  promptings  of  his  spir- 
itual nature.  It  is  evident  from  the  narrative,  that 
though  brought  up  under  the  influence  of  a  false  re- 
ligion, he  was  religiously  an  earnest  man.  He  did 
not  stifle,  he  nourished  what  religious  life  was  possi- 
ble under  heathenism.  Such  a  man,  brought  under 
the  influence  of  the  true  religion,  will  be  prepared  to 
rejoice  in  the  clear  revelation  of  God  which  it  contains. 
So  always,  up  to  the  light  he  had,  he  feared  God, 
and  wrought  righteousness.  Doubtless,  he  was  often 
enveloped  in  darkness.  Oftener,  perhaps,  he  was  be- 
set by  doubts.  But  ever  and  loyally  did  he  search 
after  the  God,  whom  he  ignorantly  worshiped.  That 
this  was  his  character,  we  learn  from  Peter's  address 
to  him,  in  answer  to  Cornelius'  description  of  the 
vision  of  the  angel.  "  Of  a  truth,"  said  Peter,  "  I  per- 
ceive that  God  is  no  respecter  of  persons;  but  in 
every  nation,  he  that  feareth  God  and  worketh  right- 
eousness, is  accepted  of  him." 

My  friends,  God  looks  upon  the  heart.  The  honor 
of  heaven's  regard  is  for  the  man  who  is  not  unmind- 
ful of  the  claims  of  his  higher  nature.  The  difficulty 
with  most  men  is,  that  they  are  carefully  unmindful  of 
these  claims.    It  is  not  that  they  have  doubts.    Doubts 


THE    EARTHLY   LIFE    VIEWED    FROM    HEAVEN.        221 

must  often  have  perplexed  the  soul  of  this  Centurion. 
It  is  not  that  they  are  ignorant.  Small  must  have 
been  his  knowledge  of  the  true  God.  But  neither 
doubt  nor  ignorance  was  able  to  build  a  wall  of  sep- 
aration between  heaven  and  his  soul.  The  difficulty 
with  most  men  is,  that  they  are  disloyal  to  the  light 
they  have;  that  they  willfully  ignore  their  religious 
promptings.  Thoughts  of  God  trouble  them,  and 
they  drive  the  thoughts  away.  Questionings  con- 
cerning duty  are  harassing,  and  these  questionings 
are  banished.  It  is  a  habit  of  sinful  men  to  narrow 
their  spiritual  vision,  and  to  weaken  their  religious 
powers,  until,  to  quote  the  language  of  another,  "  re- 
ligious talents  are  extirpated."  Over  against  this 
habit,  I  place  the  conduct  of  this  loyal  Centurion. 
As  I  have  already  said,  I  must  believe  that  his  soul 
was  often  perplexed  by  the  conflicting  claims  of  hea- 
thenism and  Judaism.  But  he  heard  the  voice  of  con- 
science, and  obeyed;  he  strained  his  spiritual  vision 
in  every  direction  from  which  he  thought  light  might 
come ;  and,  in  response  to  this  longing,  heaven  opened, 
and  the  angelic  messenger  was  sent  to  him  by  God.  I 
do  not  fear  the  honest  doubts  that  attack  our  souls, 
half  so  much  as  I  fear  the  worldliness  that  makes 
men  ignore  religious  doubt  and  belief  alike.  Our 
perplexities  are  by  no  means  so  dangerous  as  our 
carelessness.  "Would  that  we  were  bravely  looking 
toward  the  light,  and  were  ready  to  welcome  it! 
This  is  the  attitude  of  soul  that  God  honors.  It  is 
to  such  men  and  women  that  He  sends  the  messen- 
gers of  his  grace. 

Secondly.  Add  to  this  serious  loyalty  to  his  re- 
ligious nature,  his  cordial  reception  of  the  light  he 
had  already  received.  There  is  an  interest  in  relig- 
ion, which  postpones  action,  and  awaits  more  light. 


222  SERMONS    ON   THE    CHRISTIAN    LIFE. 

There  are  men  who  pray  for  the  revelation  of  God 
and  duty ;  but  who,  when  answered,  refuse  the  guid- 
ance of  the  revelation  because  it  does  not  solve  all 
problems.  A  study  of  this  Centurion's  character  re- 
veals a  far  different  habit  of  mind.  The  light  vouch- 
safed him,  he  used  in  the  performance  of  his  duty. 
The  light  given  him  did  not,  indeed,  destroy  his  re- 
ligious ignorance  But  his  ignorance  did  not  silence 
his  prayers  or  prevent  his  charities.  He  knew  enough 
of  God  to  cry  to  God;  and  he  knew  duty  well  enough 
to  seek  the  welfare  of  his  fellows.  And  so  he  prayed, 
and  practiced  charity. 

Can  you,  wTho  parade  your  doubts  on  this  and  on 
that  high  doctrine,  suppose  that  God  will  make  these 
doctrines  plain  until  you  do  the  things  you  know? 
Prayer  you  can  offer,  even  if  you  can  not  explain  the 
presence  of  sin  and  suffering  in  the  world.  And  you 
can  give  alms,  even  if  you  can  not  define  the  mode 
of  God's  existence.  The  divinely  appointed  method 
of  learning  is  fidelity  to  truth  already  known.  If 
you  are  unfaithful  to  your  little  knowledge,  God 
will  not  trust  you  with  more.  It  was  because  Cor- 
nelius was  faithful  to  the  light  he  had,  that  God 
sent  an  angel  to  prepare  him  for  the  knowledge  of 
the  truth  in  Christ.  And  our  Lord  has  taught  us 
that  he  that  will  do  his  will — and  by  fair  inference 
he  alone — shall  know  of  his  doctrine. 

It  often  happens,  that  men  and  women  complain 
that  they  are  not  the  subjects  of  deep  religious 
feeling.  I  suppose  that  there  are  some  here,  who 
wonder  why  others  are  stirred  to  their  souls'  depths 
by  religious  emotions,  while  the  current  of  their  own 
lives  is  scarcely  ruffled.  "  It  is  not  my  fault,"  one 
such  remarked  to  me — "It  is  not  my  fault  that  I 
am  not  more  deeply  religious.     I  am  not  so  consti- 


THE    EARTHLY    LIFE    VIEWED    FROM    HEAVEN.       223 

tuted,  I  suppose."  It  is  your  fault,  and  a  grievous 
fault  it  is.  The  difficulty  is,  that  you  are  not  loyal  to 
your  religious  nature.  Instead  of  taking  time  to  think 
earnestly  of  your  relations  to  God,  you  take  care  to 
suppress  all  thought  of  them.  Instead  of  looking 
for  duty,  you  husy  yourselves  in  looking  for  doubts. 
Instead  of  crying:  "Lord,  what  wilt  thou  have  me 
to  do?"  you  perplex  yourselves  with  the  unrevealed 
truth  concerning  sin  or  predestination.  The  fault  is 
yours.  And  for  whatever  woe  shall  follow  the  fault — 
and  a  grievous  woe  will  follow  it — the  responsibility 
will  be  yours.  God  sent  his  angel  to  the  Centurion, 
because  he  was  in  earnest  search  for  duty,  and  gladly 
received  what  light  was  given  him;  and  to  such  God 
sends  his  Spirit  now.  If  you  are  earnest  in  asking, 
you  will  not  fail  to  receive.  If  you  pray,  God  will 
answrer.  If  bravely  and  devotedly  you  live  up  to 
the  light  you  now  have,  fear  not  the  darkness  that 
envelops  you.  New  light  will  break  upon  your 
soul.  If  you  cherish  the  religious  longings  you  feel 
now,  fear  not  their  weakness.  Only  cherish  them; 
and  if  God's  Word  be  true,  they  will  be  deepened  and 
satisfied,  until  your  soul  is  made  perfect  in  Christ 
Jesus. 

III.  And  now,  having  considered  the  being  who 
uttered  these  words,  and  the  person  to  whom  they  were 
addressed;  let  us  turn  to  the  words  themselves,  and 
endeavor  to  seize  the  truths  which  they  are  intended 
to  teach  us.  And,  first,  they  teach  the  truth,  that 
God  looks  not  only  upon  mankind,  but  upon  individ- 
ual men.  "Thy  prayers  and  thine  alms  are  come  up 
for  a  memorial  before  God."  Here  is  a  personal  God, 
regarding  the  peculiar  acts  and  habits  of  an  individ- 
ual man.  If  we  think  of  it  for  a  moment,  we  shall 
see  that  just  this  regard  for  individuals,  as  individ- 


224  SERMONS    ON    THE    CHRISTIAN    LIFE. 

uals,  is  the  great  truth,  which  the  Gospel  reveals  con- 
cerning God.  Nature  gives  us  no  intimation  of  this 
truth.  The  sun  shines,  the  rain  falls,  attraction  op- 
erates everywhere  in  nature,  in  obedience  to  laws  that 
are  permanent  and  uniform.  On  the  whole,  and  to 
the  world  at  large,  their  operation  is  beneficent.  But 
they  move  on  relentlessly  and  swerve  not,  however 
you  or  I  may  be  injured  by  them.  If  they  are  our 
servants,  they  are  our  masters  also.  Your  little  child, 
walking  on  a  cliff,  ignorant  of  the  law  of  gravitation, 
moves  heedlessly  toward  the  edge.  It  knows  noth- 
ing of  its  danger.  But  it  moves  toward  the  edge; 
and,  so  surely  as  it  shall  lose  its  balance,  the  relent- 
less law  of  gravitation  will  act,  and  it  will  be  killed. 
The  child,  with  all  other  material  beings,  comes 
under  this  universal  law, — a  law  that  does  not  regard 
our  individual  loves  or  hopes.  And,  as  nature  reveals 
God  through  law,  this  is  nature's  revelation  of  God. 

It  is  the  Word  of  God  alone  that  tells  us  that  God 
regards  not  mankind  alone,  but  individual  men.  Here 
only  is  found  the  revelation  of  a  divine  regard  for 
men  severally,  like  that  expressed  in  the  message  of 
the  angel :  "  Thy  prayers  and  thine  alms  are  come 
up  for  a  memorial  before  God."  This  is  the  glory 
of  Christ's  revelation  of  the  Father.  His  love  is  in- 
dividual. His  redemption  is  for  each  man,  as  well 
as  all  men.  How  beautifully  our  Lord  announces  it! 
"Not  a  sparrow  falleth  to  the  ground  without  your 
Father."  It  is  to  such  a  God  that  the  Gospel  invites 
you. 

But  the  text  not  only  teaches  God's  regard  for  in- 
dividuals. It  selects  that  part  of  their  lives  which 
He  specially  values:  "Thy  prayers  and  thine  alms 
are  come  up  for  a  memorial  before  God."  I  re- 
peat it :   how  false  is  our  estimate  of  what  is  truly 


THE    EARTHLY   LIFE    VIEWED    FROM    HEAVEN.       225 

great  and  important!  If  I  should  be  called  to  de- 
scribe what  is  merely  incidental  in  our  daily  lives, 
what  requires  the  least  time,  what  engages  our  thought 
the  least,  I  should  do  the  most  of  us  no  wrong 
in  answering:  "Our  prayers  and  our  alms."  How 
hurried  are  the  former,  how  contracted  the  latter! 
A  few  minutes  of  formal  devotion  each  day;  and  a 
few  gifts  thrown  thoughtlessly  away  from  the  mere 
overflow  of  God's  bounty  to  us; — do  not  these  de- 
scribe our  prayers  and  our  alms?  And  yet  these  are 
the  stones  with  which  we  are  building  our  memorials 
before  God  !  The  achievements  of  talent  will  perish. 
The  riches  of  earth  will  be  scattered  by  our  death.  Our 
social  differences  will  be  leveled  by  the  last  conqueror. 
And  nothing  will  remain,  save  our  communion  with 
God,  and  the  memory  of  our  love  to  our  fellows.  Our 
prayers  and  our  alms  alone  come  up  as  a  memorial 
before  God.  0,  friends,  in  view  of  this  truth,  and 
in  view  of  our  lives,  and  in  view  of  the  fact  that  we 
shall  soon  stand  alone  with  God,  and  be  compelled 
to  gaze  upon  the  memorial  that  we  are  building 
now — is  it  hard  to  believe  that  in  that  hour  some  of  us 
will  awake  to  shame  and  everlasting  contempt?  Men 
and  brethren,  let  us  hasten  to  Him,  who  is  the  Life, 
and  learn  of  Him  how  wre  should  live. 

AVe  may  learn  again,  from  this  union  of  prayers 
and  alms,  the  character  of  the  religion  which  God 
honors.  The  Gospel,  like  the  law  which  it  fulfills, 
influences  man  in  two  directions — toward  God,  and 
toward  his  fellows.  As,  in  the  Law,  there  arc  two 
great  commandments  of  love  to  God  and  to  man, 
so,  in  the  Gospel,  there  are  two  distinct  expressions 
of  the  religious  life  commended.  Religion  toward 
God  exists  in  the  heart  as  faith  :  it  is  nourished  by 
the  truths  of  God's  Word,  and  its  highest  expression 


226  SERMONS    ON   THE    CHRISTIAN   LIFE. 

is  prayer.  Religion  towards  man  exists  in  the  life 
as  good  works.  Thus,  supplementing  each  other,  do 
we  find  in  the  New  Testament,  faith  and  works, 
doctrine  and  precept,  prayers  and  alms. 

But  such  is  the  perversity  of  man,  that  he  is  con- 
tinually fixing  his  attention  on  one  of  these  depart- 
ments of  the  Christian  life,  to  the  exclusion  of  the 
other.  It  is  by  no  means  an  unusual  experience  for 
a  minister  to  hear,  even  from  members  of  his  congre- 
gation, statements  that  imply  the  belief  that  there 
are  two  kinds  of  Christianity — a  Christianity  of  faith 
and  doctrine  and  prayer,  and  a  Christianity  of  works 
and  precepts  and  alms.  But  this  is  not  the  teaching 
of  the  text.  "  Thy  prayers  and  thine  alms,"  said  the 
angel  to  Cornelius,  "  are  come  up  for  a  memorial  be- 
fore God."  The  two  are  interdependent;  and  the  two 
unite  to  constitute  a  single  memorial.  The  spirit 
of  prayer  can  not  live  and  thrive,  save  as  it  is  aided 
by  the  spirit  which  expresses  itself  in  alms.  "Faith 
without  works  is  dead,"  said  an  Apostle.  And  no 
one  who  has  carefully  studied  the  religious  life,  has 
failed  to  notice  that  prayer,  unless  joined  to  active 
and  self-sacrificing  charities,  ends  at  last  in  "vague 
aspiration  and  tearful  sensibility ; "  and  that  alms- 
giving, unless  the  giver  is  made  humble  by  continual 
prayer,  ministers  to  pride  and  self- righteousness. 
No,  friends,  God  has  joined  prayer  and  alms,  and 
man  may  not  put  them  asunder.  Each  lives  by  the 
other.  Each  grows  in  beauty  by  its  union  with  its 
companion.  Your  prayers  will  become  more  fervent 
as  your  charities  increase.  Your  charities  will  en- 
large as  your  prayers  become  more  frequent  and 
more  earnest.  Let  us  learn  to  associate  the  two  in 
our  thoughts  of  either.  Let  every  prayer  that  we 
offer  to  God,  awaken  a  thought  of  the  needs  of  our 


THE  EARTHLY  LIFE  VIEWED  FROM  HEAVEN.         227 

fellows.  Let  every  labor  for  our  fellow-men  lead  us 
to  the  throne  of  God.  Thus  each  will  aid  the  other, 
and  our  memorial  before  God  will  continue  to  in- 
crease in  celestial  beauty  until  we  shall  see  God  face 
to  face. 

We  have  thus  learned  from  the  text,  that  God's 
regard  is  for  individual  men ;  that  this  regard  fastens 
distinctly  on  their  spiritual  life ;  and  that  this  spirit- 
ual life  is  honored  by  Him,  only  when  it  reveals  itself, 
in  accord  with  his  law  and  Gospel,  in  both  prayers 
and  charities,  in  both  faith  and  works.  And  now  let 
us  notice  the  character  of  the  reward  which  He  be- 
stows. How  does  God  reward  Cornelius?  I  answer: 
He  appoints  him  to  more  important  work,  and  blesses 
him  with  new  and  clearer  views  of  truth.  He 
sends  him  to  Peter,  to  teach  an  Apostle  the  great 
truth  that  God  is  no  respecter  of  persons;  and  when 
there,  He  reveals  to  him,  by  Peter,  the  truth  as  it  is  in 
Jesus.  Larger  activity  on  the  one  hand ;  new  revela- 
tions of  truth  on  the  other;  these  are  the  rewards 
which  God  bestows  on  his  faithful  servants.  In  these, 
I  doubt  not,  will  consist  the  bliss  of  heaven.  For 
activity  is  the  soul's  happiness,  and  truth  is  the 
soul's  appropriate  food.  Fidelity  in  duty  here  will 
lead  to  larger  duties  there.  And  this  will  be  our 
joy.  "Because  thou  hast  been  faithful  over  a  few 
things,  I  will  make  thee  ruler  over  many  things. 
Enter,  then,  into  the  joy  of  your  Lord."  So  is  it 
with  a  profounder  knowledge  of  truth.  Truth,  as  I 
have  said,  is  the  appropriate  food  of  the  soul.  With 
what  evident  rapture  does  the  Apostle  write  the 
words:  "Now  I  know  in  part,  then  shall  I  know 
even  as  also  I  am  known." 

Thus,  without  any  attempt  formally  to  unite  them 
in   a  single   subject,  I   have   endeavored   to   present 


228  SERMONS    ON    THE    CHRISTIAN   LIFE. 

the  truths  and  lessons  suggested  by  the  text.  And 
yet  there  is  unity  here.  Cornelius  does  his  part  on 
the  earth;  but  we  see  him,  in  the  narrative,  visited 
by  an  angel,  and  honored  by  God.  It  is  the  heav- 
enly view  of  man's  earthly  life,  that  we  have  been 
studying.  I  have  endeavored  to  shut  out  from 
your  minds,  for  a  time,  earthly  interests  and  earthly 
standards;  and  to  show  you  the  character  of  the  in- 
terest which  the  heavenly  intelligences  take  in  your 
career,  and  the  principles  which  determine  God's 
estimate  of  your  daily  life.  I  wish  that  you  might 
carry  into  the  life  of  the  week  some  slight  impres- 
sion, if  not  of  these  separate  lessons,  still  of  the  great 
truth  that  unites  them ;  the  truth  that  others,  besides 
your  fellow-men,  are  interested  in  your  life ;  that  your 
daily  acts  are  growing  not  only  into  a  memorial 
which  men  will  recall  when  you  shall  have  passed 
away,  but,  also,  into  a  memorial  before  God.  I 
pray  that  you  may  go  down  from  these  meditations 
into  active  life,  with  the  profound  conviction  to 
which  Paul  gave  utterance,  when  he  wrote:  "With 
me  it  is  a  small  thing  to  be  judged  of  man's  judg- 
ment; He  that  judgeth  is  the  Lord!" 

The  things  that  are  seen  are  temporal;  the  pleas- 
ures, the  honors,  the  self-sacrifices  of  this  life,  will 
soon  fade,  "  like  the  baseless  fabric  of  a  vision." 
The  fashion  of  this  world  passeth  away.  Mean- 
while, the  life  beyond,  with  its  fearful  or  glorious 
destiny,  approaches.  The  memorial  of  this  life,  which 
shall  meet  you  there,  will  determine  whether  that 
destiny  shall  be  unspeakably  blessed  or  unspeakably 
wretched.  And  spiritual  intelligences  bend  over 
you,  in  sympathy  or  hate,  and  war  for  you  in  angelic 
and  satanic  contest.  And  God  himself  regards  you 
with  infinite  affection.   And,  lo !  One  comes — the  Son 


THE  EARTHLY  LIFE  VIEWED  FROM  HEAVEN.         229 

of  God — and  speaks  in  tones  of  unfathomed  love,  and 
bids  you  listen  to  his  words,  and  give  to  Him  your 
heart.  And  still  you  live  your  life,  careless,  for  the 
most  part,  of  its  relations  to  the  life  to  come.  Will 
nothing  startle  you?  Hear,  then,  the  truth  which 
the  Bible  plainly  declares.  Heaven  is  interested  in 
your  earthly  life  because  you  are  in  imminent  peril 
of  spiritual  destruction.  "Awake,  thou  that  sleepest, 
and  arise  from  the  dead,  and  Christ  shall  give  thee 
light!" 


XV. 

THE  HEAVENLY  LIFE  VIEWED  FROM 
EARTH. 

"Giving  thanks  unto  the  Father,  which  hath  made  us  meet 
to  be  partakers  of  the  inheritance  of  the  saints  in  light." — Co- 
lossians  i,  12. 

There  are  two  main  aspects  of  the  Christian  life. 
We  may  regard  it  as  a  career  of  labor  for  our  fellow- 
men  ;  a  career,  terminated  by  the  advent  of  death ; 
or  we  may  regard  it  as  a  career  of  exercise  and  dis- 
cipline, in  view  of  another  condition  to  which  death 
introduces  us,  as  the  redeemed  of  God.  It  is  this 
latter  aspect  that  the  Apostle  had  in  view  when  he 
wrote  to  the  Colossian  Christians  the  words  which 
constitute  the  text. 

It  is  important,  Christian  friends,  often  to  hold 
before  the  mind  the  view  here  presented,  of  the  life 
that  we  now  live  in  the  flesh.  It  is  hard,  I  know,  to 
do  so.  The  business  of  the  world  so  obtrudes  itself 
upon  us,  and  the  beckoning  pleasures  of  life  so  at- 
tract us,  that  we  are  prone  to  think  of  our  present 
career,  as  one  solely  of  labor  and  of  enjoyment.  But 
let  us  be  sure,  that  whatever  is  our  prevalent  habit 
of  mind,  the  view  of  life  presented  in  the  text  will, 

(380) 


THE    HEAVENLY   LIFE    VIEWED   FROM    EARTH.       231 

not  long  hence,  be  pressed  on  our  attention  with  an 
urgency  that  will  utterly  forbid  distraction.  If  the 
experience  of  loss  and  sickness  and  bereavement  fail 
to  impress  the  truth,  and  to  produce  in  us  its  proper 
impression;  each  of  us,  standing  face  to  face  with 
God,  will  feel,  with  an  intensity  that  we  can  not 
now  conceive,  that  death  is  not  merely  a  departure 
from  oue  world;  that  its  supreme  significance  lies  in 
the  fact  that  it  is  an  entrance  upon  another.  Happy 
are  we,  if,  as  we  anticipate  that  most  solemn  crisis 
of  our  being,  we  can  repeat  the  joyous  and  grateful 
words  of  the  Apostle:  "Giving  thanks  unto  the 
Father,  which  hath  made  us  meet  to  be  partakers 
of  the  inheritance  of  the  saints  in  light." 

The  text  presents  for  our  meditation  two  related 
subjects:  the  first,  the  inheritance  for  which  wre  are 
here  made  meet;  and  the  second,  God's  method  of 
making  us  meet  for  the  inheritance. 

I.  And,  first,  the  inheritance  itself  demands  our 
study.  These  words  bring  vividly  before  us  the 
truth,  often  taught  in  the  New  Testament,  that 
heaven  is  a  place  as  well  as  a  state;  a  home  as  well 
as  a  condition  of  the  soul.  There  is  a  sense  in 
which  heaven  is  begun  on  earth.  It  is  not  impossi- 
ble, in  some  degree,  to  imbibe  its  spirit  even  wThile 
here.  So  long  ago  as  before  the  flood,  when  Enoch 
walked  with  God,  the  world  was  permitted  to  see  and 
know  one,  in  whom  the  spirit  of  heaven  so  shone, 
that  at  last,  without  the  pain  of  death,  God  removed 
him  from  the  world  in  which  he  was  so  utterly  a 
stranger.  In  this  sense,  so  soon  as  one,  by  faith  in 
Christ,  is  reconciled  to  God;  so  soon  as  the  peace 
which  passeth  knowledge  stills  the  agitations  of  the 
unrestful  heart;  so  soon  as  prayer,  instead  of  being 
recognized  simply  as  a  duty,  becomes  a  delight,  and 


232  SERMONS    ON    THE    CHRISTIAN    LIFE. 

the  heart  rejoices  in  the  privilege  of  unhindered  com- 
munion with  the  Father  of  ua  all;  heaven  is  begun 
in  the  soul.  The  eternal  spiritual  life,  in  virtue  of 
which  the  spirits  of  the  just  enjoy  the  companion- 
ship of  the  unfallen  angels,  is  one  with  the  life  now 
to  be  affirmed  of  every  Christian — the  life  implanted 
by  the  divine  Spirit  at  the  soul's  new  birth.  The 
new  creation,  spoken  into  being  at  the  new  birth,  is 
not  destroyed  at  death,  and  another  life  substituted. 
The  Christian  life  is  eternal;  and  the  thoughts  and 
emotions,  which  characterize  it  here,  will  charac- 
terize it  hereafter.  Heaven,  I  say,  so  far  as  it  is  an 
inward  condition,  is  begun  on  earth.  But  the  hap- 
piness of  heaven  is  not  ours;  the  fullness  of  joy  has 
not  yet  entranced  us ;  the  satisfaction  that  we  are  to 
know  has  not  yet  blessed  us.  Nor  can  it,  until  to 
this  inward  state  there  are  added  surroundings  in 
perfect  harmony  with  it.  These  surroundings  are  the 
inheritance  to  which  the  Apostle  refers.  The  word 
of  God  does  not  reveal  where  or  what  they  are.  But 
in  Gospel  and  Epistle  alike,  they  are  held  forth  by 
Christ  and  his  Apostles  to  strengthen  the  faith,  and 
animate  the  hope  of  the  Christian. 

I  can  not  dwell  on  this  truth  at  length,  nor  is  it 
necessary  to  do  so.  I  suppose  that  it  is  not  difficult 
to  believe  it,  if  we  believe  the  Bible.  Indeed,  it 
were  difficult  not  to  believe  it.  Christ's  own  words 
are:  "I  go  to  prepare  a  place  for  you."  And  when 
we  remember  that  He  ascended  in  a  glorified  hu- 
man body,  and  that  the  glory  of  the  life  of  the  re- 
deemed is  to  consist  chiefly  in  their  likeness  to  and 
communion  with  Him,  it  is  almost  impossible  not  to 
believe  that  the  Scriptures  teach  that  heaven  is  a  lo- 
cality as  well  as  an  inward  state.  This  is  the  obvious 
teaching  of  one,  at  least,  of  the  parables  of  Christ; 


THE    HEAVENLY   LIFE    VIEWED    FROM    EARTH.       233 

and  this  truth  is  certainly  implied  in  the  text.  If 
heaven  is  not  an  outward  state,  there  is  not  an  in- 
heritance for  which  wTe  are  made  meet.  In  that  case, 
the  soul  is  its  own  inheritance.  No !  brethren,  though 
where  it  is  we  can  not  tell ;  there  is  a  place — the  throne 
and  center  of  this  vast  material  universe — where  is 
Christ  in  his  glorified  humanity.  Thence  issue  his 
decrees,  on  whose  shoulder  is  the  government.  There 
are  gathered  the  unfallen  angels.  There  dwell,  de- 
lighting in  his  presence,  and  joyfully  engaged  in  his 
worship  and  service,  our  friends,  who  have  fallen 
asleep  in  Jesus.  And  there,  by  God's  grace,  wre  shall 
meet  and  be  reunited  with  them,  and  join  our  voices 
with  theirs  in  the  new  song  of  praise  unto  God  and 
the  Lamb.  I  can  not  tell  what  are  the  forms  of  its 
material  beauty  and  sublimity.  I  can  not  catalogue 
the  new  powers  with  which  the  redeemed  and  glori- 
fied spirits  have  been  endowed.  I  can  not  describe 
the  engagements  in  which  they  are  now  employed. 
But  we  are  within  the  limits  of  revelation,  when 
we  affirm  and  rejoice  in  the  blessed  truth;  that, 
when  at  last  death  shall  remove  us  from  this  world, 
we  shall  not  only  be  made  perfectly  holy,  but 
shall  also  be  admitted  to  a  home;  we  shall  not 
only  be  free  from  sin,  but  shall  enter  a  house  not 
made  with  hands,  eternal  in  the  heavens.  Let  us 
take  the  comfort,  friends,  which  God  so  lovingly 
offers  to  us.  Let  us  not  fail,  as  we  anticipate  our 
future  state,  to  anticipate  also  the  blessedness  of 
our  future  home.  As  we  think  of  those  who  have 
gone  before  us,  let  us  not  think  of  them  as  merely 
perfect  in  holiness,  but  as  rejoicing  also  in  material 
surroundings,  formed  by  Him  who  has  made  all 
things  beautiful,  to  be  the  residence  of  his  redeemed. 
The   text   describes  this  outward   heaven,  as   an 


234  SERMONS    ON    THB    CHRISTIAN   LIFE. 

inheritance:  "Giving  thanks  to  the  Father,  which 
hath  made  us  meet  to  be  partakers  of  the  inherit- 
ance of  the  saints  in  light."  And  thus  is  brought  be- 
fore us  the  method  by  which  it  becomes  ours.  This 
word,  inheritance,  is  intended  to  exclude  the  belief  that 
heaven  is  ours  by  right  of  purchase;  and  to  express 
and  emphasize  the  truth,  that  it  belongs  to  us  as  the 
adopted  children  of  our  Heavenly  Father.  And  when 
we  recall  the  fact  that  this  adoption  is  possible  only 
because  of  the  death  of  Christ,  we  see  this  highest, 
this  final  bestowment  of  God's  grace  associated  as  a 
result  with  the  gift  of  his  Son.  It  is  true  that  every 
gift  of  God  is  related  to  the  death  of  our  Lord. 
There  is  no  mercy  of  his  common  and  daily  provi- 
dence that  is  not  ours  because  of  the  sacrifice  of 
Christ.  We  recognize  this,  when  praying  for  our  daily 
bread  in  the  name  and  for  the  sake  of  Jesus  Christ 
our  Redeemer.  So,  to  Israel  of  old,  came  the  manna 
from  the  hand  of  a  merciful  God.  The  manna,  not 
less  than  Canaan  itself,  was  the  gift  of  his  love* 
But  the  manna  was  a  mere  temporary  expedient, 
bestowed  by  the  way.  Canaan  was  the  inheritance; 
Canaan  was  the  ultimate  bestowment.  And  so, 
though  there  is  no  gift  which  was  not  made  ours 
through  the  atonement  of  Christ,  that,  which  his 
atonement  especially  purchased,  is  the  final  and 
blessed  home,  for  which,  by  God's  providence  and 
grace,  we  are  now  becoming  meet.  And  thus,  dear 
friends,  we  gain  a  new  and  vivid  impression  of  its 
glory.  The  perfect  God,  because  of  his  perfect- 
ness,  sees  to  it  that  there  is  ever  in  his  government 
a  due  proportion  between  the  price  paid  and  the 
object  gained;  between  the  sacrifice  and  the  re- 
ward; between  the  sufferings  of  Christ  and  the  glory 
that   shall  follow.     And  if   this  be   true,  who  shall 


THE    HEAVENLY   LIFE   VIEWED   FROM    EARTH.       235 

tell  what  is  the  exceeding  and  eternal  glory  of  that 
final  home,  to  obtain  which  for  us,  the  Son  of  God 
consented  to  a  life  so  painful  and  death  so  terrible ! 
No  wonder  that  the  Apostle  says:  "Eye  hath  not 
seen,  ear  hath  not  heard,  neither  have  entered  into 
the  heart  of  man  to  conceive  the  things  which  God 
hath  prepared  for  them  that  love  him."  No  wonder 
that  the  beloved  disciple  exhausted  all  the  wealth 
in  the  chambers  of  his  imagery,  to  symbolize  the 
new  city  of  God.  But  is  it  not  a  continual  wonder, 
and  an  awful  commentary  on  our  earthliness,  that 
we,  who  are  heirs  to  all  this  glory,  should  not  bear 
with  us  continually  a  spiritual  habit,  becoming  those 
to  whom  God  has  promised,  and  whom  He  is  now 
preparing,  for  an  inheritance  incorruptible,  undcfiled, 
and  that  fadeth  not  awTay? 

The  Apostle  describes  heaven  further  as  the  in- 
heritance of  the  saints.  And  thus  is  not  merely  sug- 
gested, but  distinctly  stated,  the  great  and  inspiring 
truth,  that  heaven — that  the  inheritance  for  w7hich 
we  are  now  being  made  meet — is  a  place  of  blessed 
and  eternal  human  companionships.  The  saints  in 
light  are  those  followers  of  God  who  have  gone  before 
us — the  people  of  God,  redeemed  in  every  age,  and 
out  of  every  kindred  and  nation.  More  than  this,  the 
w^ord  translated  saints  means  the  holy  ones;  and  thus 
calls  to  mind  the  truth,  that,  with  the  redeemed 
spirits,  shall  be  associated  those  unfallen  beings,  who 
live  in  the  presence  of  God. 

There  is  no  word  more  mournful  than  the  word 
loneliness.  There  is  no  view  of  the  suffering  Sav- 
iour more  affecting,  than  the  view  which  presents 
Him  as  solitary,  forsaken  of  men  and  heaven,  cry- 
ing: "I  have  trodden  the  wine-press  alone,  and  of 
the  people  there  was  none  with  me."     How  impor- 


236  SERMONS   ON   THE   CHRISTIAN   LIFE. 

tant  an  element  of  the  terribleness  of  death  is  the 
solitude  in  which  the  soul  must  pass  out  of  the 
world.  The  hand  refuses  to  obey  the  will,  and  no 
longer  grasps  the  hand  of  affection.  At  last,  the  spirit, 
unclothed  of  its  earthly  habitation,  goes  alone  into  the 
world  beyond.  Inevitably  we  ask  the  question :  And 
shall  the  spirit  remain  in  this  solitude  forever?  It  is 
in  view  of  this  inevitable  question  especially,  that  we 
appreciate  the  revelation  of  heaven  as  the  inherit- 
ance of  the  saints.  The  spirits  of  those,  whose  bodies 
sleep  in  Christ,  are  not  separated  from  each  other. 
The  solitude  of  death  is  not  perpetuated  in  the  life 
of  the  redeemed.  The  personality,  which  survives 
the  wreck  of  the  material  frame,  and  which  carries 
with  it  human  desires — and  of  these  the  love  of 
companionship  is  by  no  means  the  weakest — among 
the  other  joys  of  heaven,  finds  there  a  social  life. 
They  who,  through  the  riches  of  God's  grace,  are 
admitted  to  the  city  of  the  living  God,  are  brought 
into  the  society  of  the  innumerable  company  of  an- 
gels, and  the  general  assembly  of  the  church  of  the 
first-born,  and  the  spirits  of  the  just  made  perfect, 
and  Jesus  himself,  the  Mediator  of  the  New  Cove- 
nant. 

I  can  do  no  more  than  barely  state  this  blessed 
truth.  But  with  what  joy  and  gratitude  should  we 
anticipate  the  life,  in  which  we  shall  have  escaped 
forever  the  jealousies  and  bickerings  and  gossip- 
ings  and  littlenesses,  which  do  so  much  to  make 
our  social  life  a  burden  instead  of  a  blessing!  Great 
and  precious,  indeed,  is  the  promise  that  you  and  I 
shall  sit  down  with  Abraham  and  Moses  and  Paul 
and  John,  and  hold  great  converse  with  them  and 
with  angels,  and  with  One  who  is  far  above  all  an- 
gels, and  who  still  is  our  Elder  Brother.    If  you  have 


THE    HEAVENLY   LIFE    VIEWED    FROM    EARTH.       237 

ever  longed  for  a  perfect  social  life,  for  the  inter- 
change of  highest  thoughts,  for  communion  with  the 
great  and  good;  if  you  have  ever  longed  to  learn 
from  great  intelligences,  or  to  catch  from  converse, 
the  spirit  of  those  whose  devotion  burns  like  the 
seraphim — behold,  in  this  revelatiou  of  the  social  life 
of  the  saints  in  light,  the  promised  fulfillment  of  your 
souls'  desires. 

Once  more,  the  Apostle  describes  heaven  as  the 
inheritance  of  the  saints  in  light.  The  dissipation  of 
mystery;  the  illumination  of  the  soul;  the  increase, 
now  unimagined,  of  the  spirit's  knowledge; — this 
is  the  truth  conveyed  by  the  word  light,  as  here  em- 
ployed by  the  Apostle.  And  this  truth  is  often  in- 
sisted upon  by  the  Psalmists,  and  by  our  Lord  and 
his  Apostles.  Death,  as  we  are  distinctly  taught,  is 
not  the  coming  on  of  darkness;  it  is  the  dawn  of  an 
eternal  day.  At  the  close  of  life  the  order  of  events 
is  just  what  it  was  at  the  beginning  of  the  world. 
Not  the  morning  first,  and  afterwards  the  night;  but 
the  evening  and  the  morning  were  the  first  day. 
You  will  find  intimations  of  this  truth  scattered 
throughout  the  Scriptures.  "I  shall  behold  thy 
face,"  said  David;  "I  shall  know  even  as  I  am 
known,"  wrote  Paul;  "In  thy  light  I  shall  see 
light."  This  increase  of  knowledge  is  the  expecta- 
tion of  every  disciple  of  Christ,  and  it  is  grounded 
in  the  promise  of  a  perfect  immortality. 

Of  course,  we  can  say  but  little  with  regard  to  the 
contents  of  our  knowledge  hereafter.  That  would  be 
to  anticipate  heaven.  But  we  do  know  that  in  one 
respect  it  will  differ  from  knowledge  here.  We  are 
told  by  the  Preacher,  that  "in  much  wisdom  is  much 
grief,"  and  "he  that  increaseth  knowledge  increaseth 
sorrow."     It  can  not  be  so  in  the  world  of  light; 


238  SERMONS   ON   THE   CHRISTIAN   LIFE. 

for  side  by  side  with  this  revelation  of  increased 
knowledge,  is  the  revelation  of  perfect  happiness. 
And  this  compels  the  belief  that  it  will  be  such 
an  increase  of  knowledge  as  will  contribute  to  the 
soul's  highest  enjoyment.  Now,  if  I  were  called 
to  describe  a  knowledge  that  will  inevitably  exert 
this  influence ;  if  I  were  called  to  answer  the  question : 
"  What  knowledge  is  it  that  will  itself  be  the  highest 
benediction  to  the  soul?" — I  should  reply,  as  you 
would  reply,  that  it  is  a  knowledge  of  the  way  in 
which  God  is  bringing  eternal  joy  out  of  the  suffer- 
ings of  the  good.  We  could  endure  affliction,  if 
only  we  could  see  the  issue  of  it  in  perpetual  and 
unspeakable  happiness.  It  would  not  be  so  hard 
to  bear  the  pain  of  parting,  if  we  could  have  dis- 
tinctly before  us  the  joyful  reunion  in  our  Father's 
house  of  many  mansions.  It  would  not  be  so  hard 
to  contemplate  the  want  and  wretchedness  and  sin 
of  this  lower  world,  if,  standing  by  the  throne  of 
God,  we  could  behold  the  progressive  execution  of 
that  plan,  by  which  these  become  the  ministers  of  a 
higher  and  a  happier  life.  But  then  to  ask  again 
and  again  the  question,  without  receiving  an  answer, 
"How  can  these  sighs,  and  pains,  and  wants,  and 
death  be  made  to  consist  with  the  revelation  of  the 
infinite  love  of  the  Father  of  us  all?"  This  is  hard. 
And  the  knowledge  of  this  question's  answer  is  the 
knowledge  that  we  need,  in  order  to  attain  a  joy 
whose  song  no  earthly  choir  may  sing.  And  just  this 
is  the  knowledge  of  heaven.  It  is  the  inheritance 
of  the  saints  in  light.  There  we  shall  see,  what  now 
we  can  only  believe;  that  this  awful  movement  of 
events,  that  these  griefs  that  embitter  and  these  bur- 
dens that  crush  us  are  the  servants  of  God,  laboring 
to  bless  man  with  the  far  more  exceeding  and  eter- 


THE    HEAVENLY  LIFE    VIEWED  FROM    EARTH.        239 

nal  weight  of  glory.  There  we  shall  know,  that  what 
seem  woes  are  blessings.  There,  it  may  be,  we  shall 
recall  with  joy  the  fact,  that  we  had  faith  enough,  at 
least  tremblingly  to  sing  the  lines:  — 

"  Blind  unbelief  is  sure  to  err, 
And  scan  his  work  in  vain; 
God  is  his  own  interpreter, 
And  He  will  make  it  plain." 

What  a  knowledge  will  be  ours,  when  God,  in  the 
light  of  heaven,  shall  interpret  to  us  the  events  that 
now  appear  inexplicable;  when  he  shall  reveal  to  our 
illumined  souls,  that  what  seems  most  terrible  in  his 
judgments  is  not  only  consistent  with,  but  is  the  most 
appropriate  instrument  of  that  love  whose  depth  no 
finite  mind  can  fathom!  If  this  be  the  knowledge  of 
heaven,  wonder  not  that  its  joy  is  past  imagining. 
If  this  be  the  light  that  makes  resplendent  the  in- 
heritance of  the  saints,  wonder  not  at  the  ceaseless 
song:  "Worship,  and  honor,  and  riches,  and  glory, 
and  blessing  be  unto  Him  that  sitteth  upon  the 
throne,  and  unto  the  Lamb  forever." 

So  much  then  do  we  gather  from  these  words  of 
the  Apostle,  concerning  the  heaven  that  lies  before 
us;  "the  inheritance  of  the  saints  in  light."  It  is 
not  merely  an  inward  state;  it  is  an  outward  home. 
It  is  a  home  worth  the  price  paid  for  it.  Its  glories 
must  be  such  as  to  compensate  the  Redeemer  for 
his  sufferings,  else  he  shall  not  see  of  the  travail  of 
his  soul,  and  be  satisfied.  It  is  a  home  indeed,  for 
its  social  life  is  perfect;  it  is  the  inheritance  of 
saints;  and  a  communion  and  high  companionships 
await  us,  of  whose  blessedness  our  earthly  lives, 
however  they  may  prepare  us  for  it,  afford  us  only 
the  imperfect  symbols.    It  is  the  inheritance  of  saints 


240  SERMONS    ON    THE    CHRISTIAN    LIFE. 

in  light;  and  that  light  will  dissipate  all  darkness 
that  now  oppresses  us,  and  solve  all  painful  problems; 
and  we  shall  know,  what  sin  and  suffering  so  often 
make  us  doubt,  that  God  is  love — is  infinite  and 
eternal  love.  This  much  I  say  we  gather  concern- 
ing heaven  from  these  words  of  the  Apostle.  It 
may  not  satisfy  our  longings.  It  gives  us  no  inti- 
mation of  the  material  glories  that  shall  surround 
us.  But  has  not  enough  been  said  to  enable  us 
patiently  to  endure,  and  earnestly  to  labor,  and 
cheerfully  to  give  and  sacrifice,  until  the  Prince  of 
Life  shall  call  us  to  Himself,  and  speak  the  words  of 
welcome:  "Enter  into  the  joy  of  your  Lord"? 

II.  The  Apostle  not  only  brings  before  us  our 
inheritance;  he  also  teaches  us  that  we  are  here  made 
meet  to  be  partakers  of  it.  And  this  is  the  second 
truth  to  which,  I  said,  I  would  call  your  attention. 
I  must  do  so  very  briefly. 

And  here  I  desire,  first  of  all,  to  say  with  empha- 
sis, that  this  house  of  God,  these  songs  of  praise,  the 
written  Word  and  the  whole  round  of  Christian  or- 
dinances have  their  final  cause,  not  in  themselves, 
not  in  any  thing  connected  with  this  earthly  life, 
but  in  the  life  to  come.  Not,  at  last,  to  enable  us 
to  bear  the  burdens  of  the  week,  to  do  the  work 
and  fulfill  the  duties  of  our  secular  life,  hut  to  fit  us 
for  the  life  and  the  joys  of  our  Father's  house  on 
high,  was  the  Church  established.  And  only  as  we 
remember  this  truth  in  all  our  prayers  and  songs  and 
studies  of  the  Word  of  God,  shall  we  be  blessed  by 
them  as  God  intends  that  we  shall  be  blessed.  We  are 
here,  to-day,  not  only  in  view  of  the  week  to  come, 
but  also  and  especially  in  view  of  the  life  to  come.  God 
is  by  these  means  of  grace  making  us  meet  not  only 
for  the  burdens  of  the  wilderness,  but  also  for  the 


THE    HEAVENLY    LIFE    VIEWED    FROM    EARTH.       241 

glories  of  Canaan.  Let  us  never  forget  the  meaning 
and  the  mission  of  the  Church  with  its  ordinances. 
It  is  no  earthly  expedient,  designed  to  serve  an 
earthly  purpose,  however  lofty  that  purpose  may  be. 
It  is  a  celestial  revelation,  intended  to  fit  us  for  our 
celestial  dwelling-place;  "the  house  not  made  with 
hands,  eternal  in  the  heavens."  Brethren,  could  we 
ever  come  to  the  house  of  God  with  this  truth  in 
our  hearts;  could  we  sing  and  hear  and  pray  with 
our  home  in  clear  view ;  could  we  more  often  use  the 
Lord's  day  as  a  preparation  for  the  eternal  Sabbath ; 
and  enter  God's  earthly  house  in  view  of  our  eternal 
home;  and  sing  these  hymns,  thinking  of  the  new 
song  of  the  redeemed;  and  offer  our  prayers,  re- 
membering that  one  day  we  shall  commune  with 
Him  face  to  face, — how  would  our  engagements  in 
this  holy  time  enable  us  to  do  and  bear  and  un- 
dergo and  overcome,  until  the  promise  is  fulfilled, 
and  the  inheritance  is  ours ! 

And  what  is  true  of  the  means  of  grace,  is  true,  also, 
of  grace  which  they  bring  to  us.  The  Gospel  itself  is 
not  to  be  explained  by  any  thing  that  it  does  for  us 
on  earth.  The  character  which  it  bestows,  is  indeed 
the  loftiest  known  to  man.  The  fortitude  which  it 
vouchsafes,  is  nobler  than  ever  Stoic  achieved.  The 
graces  which  it  makes  possible,  are  more  beautiful 
than  those  which  heathen  art  portrayed.  The  life 
which  it  legitimates  and  secures  is  more  symmetrical 
than,  apart  from  it,  man  had  imagined.  But  these 
do  not  explain  the  Gospel.  These  are  not  its  last 
end.  That  is  to  be  found  only  in  the  life  to  come. 
Our  Lord  did  not  die  that  this  life  alone  might  be 
saved  and  beautified.  He  gave  Himself  an  offering 
for  sin,  that  we  might  be  made  meet  for  the  inherit- 
ance of  the  saints  in  light.     If  there  is  no  immortal- 


242  SERMONS    ON    THE    CHRISTIAN   LIFE. 

ity  for  man  the  cross  was  erected  in  vain.  But  it  was 
not  erected  in  vain.  There  is  a  heaven  in  which 
all  ills  are  compensated,  all  wrongs  redressed,  all 
sorrows  transformed  into  eternal  blessings ;  and  when 
we  call  you  to  believe  in  Christ,  we  call  you  to  give 
yourself  to  Him  who  came  to  purchase  it;  and  who 
now  offers  Himself  to  you,  in  order  to  make  you 
meet  to  be  partakers  of  its  unspeakable  and  eternal 

joys. 

But  once  more,  not  only  by  the  means  of  grace, 
and  by  the  Gospel,  but  by  every  event  which  He  per- 
mits to  occur,  is  our  Father  making  us  meet  for  this 
inheritance.  This  is  a  truth  which  ought  never  to 
sink  below  consciousness.  All  events  that  occur  are 
making  us  meet  for  glory  everlasting.  All  objects 
are  our  ministers.  "All  things,"  says  the  Apostle, 
"are  yours."  All  things  work  together  for  good. 
Think  of  the  sweeping  character  of  the  declaration. 
All  things,  whether  death  or  life.  In  this  view  of 
truth,  how  utterly  fades  aAvay  the  distinction  between 
secular  and  sacred!  In  this  view  of  it  no  object  is 
trivial ;  no  event  is  unimportant.  Every  thing  is  an 
angel  of  God.  He  who  has  made  all  things  beautiful, 
in  this  great  and  gracious  assurance,  reveals  to  us  the 
secret  of  their  celestial  beauty.  These  events,  so 
dark,  so  painful ;  these  objects,  so  unlovely  to  our 
earthly  vision,  are  all  God's  servants  and  are  our  serv- 
ants. The  stars  above  us,  and  the  dust  below  us; 
the  joys  that  thrill  us,  and  the  pain  that  bows  us  are 
all  his  ministers ;  and  their  one  work  is,  to  make  us 
meet  to  be  partakers  of  the  inheritance  of  the  saints 
in  light. 

In  view  of  these  great  and  blessed  truths,  so  clearly 
revealed  to  us  in  the  Word  of  God;  in  view  of  such 
an  inheritance,  and  of  such  a  discipline — the  one  so 


THE  HEAVENLY  LIFE  VIEWED  FROM  EARTH.        243 

glorious,  the  other  so  gracious — let  us  go  forth  to  our 
weekly  lives  with  increased  faith  in  God,  with 
strengthened  hope  and  deepened  love.  Troubles  and 
trials  are  ours;  but  so  is  the  inheritance.  Troubles 
and  trials  are  ours;  but  if  they  were  not,  the  inher- 
itance could  not  be.  They  are  ours;  but  they  are 
sent  forth  to  minister  to  us  as  heirs  of  this  salvation. 
Can  we  not  believe  this;  and,  believing  it,  is  it  not 
possible  even  to  glory  in  infirmity  and  rejoice  in 
tribulation,  because  through  them  alone  we  can  be 
made  meet  for  the  inheritance  ? 

And  to  you  who  have  not  accepted  Christ,  let 
me  say,  that  this  inheritance  is  ours  only  through 
Christ.  Through  Him  alone  do  its  glories  belong  to 
us.  Through  Him  alone  do  all  events  become  our 
servants.  Apart  from  Him,  the  future  world  is  full 
of  gloom.  Apart  from  Him,  nature  and  outward 
events  are  our  foes.  Therefore,  we  call  you  to  come 
to  Him,  and  to  come  now. 


XVI. 

THE  TRANSFORMATION  OF  THE 
OUTWARD  LIFE. 

"Be  ye  transformed  by  the  renewing  of  your  mind." — Ro- 
mans xii,  2. 

I  am  confident  that  all  of  us  who  have  professed 
the  Christian  faith,  and  who  are  in  any  degree  con- 
scious of  that  change  in  the  governing  motive  of  life 
which  the  Bible  denominates  a  "birth"  or  a  "new 
creation,"  have  pondered,  and  perhaps  have  been 
troubled  by,  the  questions :  what  exactly  is  this  new 
birth  or  this  "renewing  of  the  mind,"  and  what  are 
its  relations  to  the  outward  life?  It  is  because  this 
exhortation  of  the  Apostle  to  the  Roman  Christians 
suggests  the  answer  to  the  latter  question,  that  I 
have  selected  it  as  my  text.  The  particular  subject 
which  it  invites  us  to  study  is  the  transformation  of 
the  outward  life.  "  Be  ye  transformed  by  the  renew- 
ing of  your  mind."  This  subject,  I  shall  endeavor 
to  unfold  by  considering,  first,  the  law  of  transfor- 
mation, and,  secondly,  the  elements  of  the  outward 
life  as  thus  transformed. 

I.  Fixing  our  attention,  in  the  first  place,  on  the 
law  or  method  of  this  outward  change,  it  is  obvious 

(244) 


THE  TRANSFORMATION  OF  THE  OUTWARD   LIFE.      245 

that  underlying  the  exhortation  is  the  general  truth, 
that  every  one  of  our  lives  is  undergoing  a  trans- 
formation. That  which  transforms  us  outwardly  is 
that  which  dominates  the  spirit.  The  transforming 
power  is  that  which  has  taken  possession  of  the  cen- 
ter of  our  being.  This  is  the  law  of  transformation. 
Here  is  a  youug  man  who  discovers  in  early  life 
any  special  taste  or  talent;  for  business  let  us  say,  or 
for  mechanical  pursuits.  His  taste  or  talent  will 
soon  master  him.  It  will  regulate  all  of  his  activities. 
It  will  determine  the  plays  of  his  childhood,  the  books 
that  he  reads  in  youth,  his  boon  companions  and  his 
amusements.  Life  will  possess  relish  for  him  just  in 
the  proportion  in  which  this  governing  talent  is  given 
appropriate  food  to  feed  upon.  Right  before  your 
eyes  you  shall  see  a  transformation  going  forward, 
until  at  last  he  becomes  a  skillful  mechanic,  or  a  great 
inventor,  or  a  successful  merchant.  If,  at  its  con- 
clusion, you  should  be  asked  to  describe  the  process, 
you  would  reply :  "  The  man  has  been  transformed 
by  wrhat  has  been  dominant  within  him.  That  vital 
seed,  which  we  call  a  taste  or  gift,  has  in  its  growth 
assimilated  all  the  elements  of  the  man's  power;  it 
has  subordinated  to  itself  all  his  faculties  and  other 
talents.  He  has  been  transformed  by  his  mightiest 
endowment." 

I  count  among  my  valued  friends  one  who,  at  a 
very  earl  j&  age,  revealed  his  possession  of  distinct  mu- 
sical gifts.  He  inherited  them  from  both  father  and 
mother.  At  an  age  when  other  boys  find  their  chief 
delight  in  outdoor  sports,  he  was  accustomed  to  steal 
into  the  parlor  and  to  thrum  the  piano.  He  con- 
quered by  himself  the  difficulties  of  the  instrument, 
and  soon  compelled  it  to  reveal  its  locked  up  treas- 
ures of  melody.     Most  of  his  friends  predicted  his 


246  SERMONS    ON    THE    CHRISTIAN   LIFE. 

future  career  with  great  confidence.  His  father,  a  large 
manufacturer,  found  a  place  for  him  in  his  business; 
but  the  boy,  though  he  displayed  capacity,  refused 
to  yield  himself  to  what  he  considered  the  drudgery 
of  its  details.  In  business  hours,  his  mind  wandered 
into  the  region  of  musical  ideas;  he  neglected  the 
tasks  assigned  to  him;  he  scribbled  clefs  and  bars 
and  notes  on  the  bill-heads  and  letter-paper  of  the 
counting-room ;  nor  was  he  happy  until  the  day  of 
his  release  from  business  toils — the  day  that  permit- 
ted him  to  revel  in  the  enjoyments  to  which  his  mas- 
tering passion  determined  him.  His  life  was  trans- 
formed by  his  dominant  love  and  talent  for  music. 
Thus  the  inner  man  transforms  the  outward  life. 

These  examples  will  help  us  to  grasp  the  meaning 
of  this  exhortation  of  the  Apostle  to  the  Church  at 
Rome.  All  of  us,  who  have  read  the  first  chapter  of 
this  Epistle  and  have  shuddered  at  its  description 
of  the  character  of  man,  can  form  some  conception 
of  the  outward  life  of  the  people  out  from  whom  had 
come  the  members  of  this  Roman  Church.  From 
Caesar  on  the  throne — for  the  Caesar  was  Nero — to  the 
slaves,  who  found  food  in  the  public  feasts  and  recre- 
ation in  the  circus  and  the  theater,  the  people  were 
degraded  and  wretched  almost  beyond  comparison; 
save  a  few  who  had  inherited  the  spirit  of  the  heroic 
age  of  the  republic;  and  these  could  only  contem- 
plate with  despair  a  society  which  they  were  utterly 
powerless  to  reform. 

But  some  men  and  women  in  Rome  had  heard  and 
accepted  the  Gospel  of  Christ.  To  them  had  come 
Apostles  of  the  crucified  Jesus  of  Nazareth,  with 
tidings  of  a  love  that  passeth  knowledge;  of  the 
Father  ready  to  forgive  sin,  of  the  Son  who  had 
given  Himself  a  sacrifice,  of  the  Spirit  by  whom  men 


THE  TRANSFORMATION  OF  THE  OUTWARD  LIFE.      247 

might  be  born  again  and  their  minds  be  renewed. 
They  had  accepted  this  Son  as  their  Saviour;  they 
had  bowed  their  souls  in  adoring  worship  of  this  all- 
loving  Father,  and  they  had  felt  the  throbbing  of  the 
new  life  imparted  by  the  renewing  Spirit.  They  had 
formed  themselves  into  a  congregation  of  Christians; 
and  they  were  strengthening  each  other  by  their 
common  faith  and  hope  and  love.  And  now  comes 
to  them  the  message  of  the  Apostle :  "  You  do  not 
live  for  yourselves  alone.  The  Master  has  taught 
his  disciples  that  they  are  to  be  the  salt  of  the 
earth,  the  light  of  the  world.  You  are  to  preserve 
what  is  salvable  in  this  fast-decaying  Roman  society. 
You  are  to  illumine  with  your  new  hope  the  dark- 
ness that  covers  the  noblest  of  your  people;  let  your 
light  shine  in  the  midst  of  the  darkness.  Live  your 
lives  before  men.  But  do  not  live  lives  like  theirs; 
do  not  conform  yourself  to  their  conduct.  '  Be  not 
conformed  to  this  world.'  But  since  the  Spirit  has 
renewed  you,  let  that  renewal  transform  you  out- 
wardly. Let  that  new  life  be  the  dominant,  the  mas- 
tering, the  transfiguring  principle  and  passion.  iBe 
ye  transformed  by  the  renewal  of  your  minds.'"  Such, 
historically  interpreted,  seems  to  me  the  significance 
of  the  Apostle's  exhortation.  The  truth  that  it  teaches 
therefore  is  the  truth  that  our  outward  life,  the  life 
that  we  live  in  the  world  and  before  men,  is  to  be 
transformed  by  our  regeneration.  In  other  words, 
that  our  regeneration — the  renewing  of  our  mind  by 
the  Holy  Spirit — is  to  yield  the  elements  of  our  out- 
ward life. 

That  there  is  such  a  regeneration,  the  Bible  clearly 
teaches.  There  is  no  discourse  on  a  spiritual  sub- 
ject to  be  found  in  the  "Word  of  God,  more  profound 
and  fruitful,  than  that  in  which  our  Lord  sets  forth. 


248  SERMONS    ON    THE    CHRISTIAN   LIFE. 

this  fundamental  but  mysterious  truth  to  the  ruler 
who  came  to  him  by  night.  Nicodemus,  it  would 
seem,  had  been  intellectually  impressed  by  the  mira- 
cles wrought  by  Jesus.  Indeed,  that  this  impression 
had  already  wrought  a  conviction  of  the  divine  mis- 
sion of  Jesus,  is  evident  from  the  statement  with 
which  he  introduces  himself  to  the  Master:  "Rabbi, 
we  know  that  thou  art  a  teacher  sent  from  God,  for 
no  man  can  do  the  miracles  which  thou  doest,  except 
God  be  with  him."  He  was  convinced,  I  say,  that  the 
mighty  works  wrought  by  Jesus  attested  his  divine 
mission ;  and  he  therefore  approached  Jesus  in  a 
docile,  reverent  spirit,  seeking  further  information. 
The  Lord  never  did,  nor  does  He  now  turn  the 
teachable  away,  even  though  like  Nicodemus  they 
come  secretly,  because  fearful  of  incurring  the  en- 
mity of  the  world.  And,  therefore,  He  does  not  turn 
away  Nicodemus,  but  teaches  him  the  fundamental 
truths  concerning  Christian  discipleship.  And  these 
are  the  first  words  of  the  great  discourse :  "  Except  a 
man  be  born  again,  he  can  not  see  the  Kingdom  of 
God."  It  is  as  if  He  had  said :  "  My  religion  is  not 
merely  a  new  party  with  which  you  as  a  ruler  may 
ally  yourself.  My  religion  is  a  new  life;  a  life  so 
thoroughly  new  as  to  involve  a  revolution  in  your 
heart,  your  disposition ;  a  life  in  its  spirit  so  differ- 
ent from  and  opposed  to  that  which  men  naturally 
live,  that  men  are  not  competent  to  begin  it  them- 
selves. The  vital  seed  of  that  life  must  be  implanted 
by  Divine  power.  You  must  be  born  again,  not 
of  the  flesh,  not  of  the  will  of  man,  but  of  God. 
By  this  regeneration — by  this  new  birth  alone — can 
you  become  a  subject  of  the  Kingdom,  which  I  have 
come  from  heaven  to  establish  in  the  world." 
Just  at  the  point  at  which  Christ  closed  his  dis- 


THE  TRANSFORMATION  OF  THE   OUTWARD  LIFE.      249 

course  to  Nicodemus,  the  Apostle  Paul  takes  up  the 
subject  in  this  exhortation  to  the  Komau  Christians. 
"You" — such  is  the  substance  of  his  statement — 
"have  been  regenerated;  you  have  been  born  again 
by  the  Spirit  of  God;  you  have  been  renewed  in 
your  mind.  It  now  becomes  your  duty  to  let  that 
'renewing  of  your  mind'  transfigure  your  outward 
careers.  You  are  bound  to  let  it  determine  your 
whole  walk  and  conversation.  If  you  desire  to 
know  what  kind  of  lives  you  ought  to  live;  go  back 
to  your  regeneration  and  study  its  elements;  those 
elements  will  yield  the  outward,  the  distinctive  traits 
of  the  life  appropriate  to  you  as  subjects  of  the  King- 
dom of  God.  'Be  ye  transformed' by  the  renewing 
of  your  mind.'" 

By  its  imperative  form,  the  exhortation  implies 
the  possession  by  Christians  of  the  power  to  trans- 
form their  outward  lives.  But  it  implies  also  that 
this  transformation  will  not  take  place  unless  the 
new  spiritual  energy  of  the  Christian  is  purposely 
exerted  to  effect  it.  The  inward  spiritual  life  be- 
stowed by  the  indwelling  God,  and  which  the  Apos- 
tle here  denominates  "  the  renewing  of  the  mind," 
is  not  a  force  which  will  transform  conduct  apart 
from  the  will.  Indeed,  it  may  be  said  that  the  trans- 
formation is  thorough,  exactly  in  proportion  to  vol- 
untary activity  of  the  Christian.  There  is  much 
that  is  mysterious  in  the  inter-relations  of  divine  and 
human  power  in  the  redemption  of  man.  But  this 
we  know :  that  in  the  renewal  of  man  the  Agent  is 
the  living  God,  and  that  man  is  given  power  ade- 
quate to  the  transformation  of  his  conduct.  Trans- 
formation, therefore,  is  a  duty  of  the  Christian.  Be- 
cause it  is  a  duty,  it  is  possible  to  neglect  it.  And 
because  it  may  be  neglected,  the  exhortation  which 


250  SERMONS    ON    THE    CHRISTIAN    LIFE. 

constitutes  the  text  is  addressed  to  the  Christians  at 
Home.  Moreover — and  this  is  the  truth  to  which  I 
desire  especially  to  direct  your  attention — a  method 
of  transformation  is  prescribed  to  the  Christian.  The 
elements  of  the  transformed  life  must  be  sought  in 
the  elements  of  the  renewal.  The  conduct  of  the 
Christian  must  be  determined  by  the  character  of 
his  regeneration.  "We  must  be  "transformed  by  the 
renewing  of  our  mind."  This  is  the  inspired  law 
of  transformation. 

II.  And  thus  we  are  led  to  consider  the  elements  of 
the  outward  life  as  thus  transformed.  What  should 
be  the  traits  of  the  outward  Christian  life?  I  know 
no  more  fruitful  method  of  answering  this  question 
than  just  this  method  of  looking  for  them  in  the 
traits  of  our  regeneration. 

Without  further  preface,  therefore,  let  me  mention 
as  the  first  trait  of  our  regeneration,  the  distinctively 
spiritual  character  of  the  life  implanted  at  the  new 
birth.  It  is  spiritual  in  every  sense  in  which  that 
word  is  used  in  the  New  Testament.  The  author 
of  the  new  life  is  the  Spirit  of  God.  It  is  the  spirit- 
ual portion  of  our  being  that  is  immediately  affected; 
and  the  design  of  the  new  life  thus  implanted,  is  to 
make  our  spiritual  nature  regnant,  to  release  it  from 
slavery  to  our  lower  life.  Thus  in  every  sense  of  the 
terms,  is  it  true,  that  "  that  which  is  born  of  the 
Spirit  is  spirit."  This  is  the  first  trait  of  our  regen- 
eration;  the  life  implanted  is  a  spiritual  life,  and  its 
end  is  to  make  our  spiritual  nature  regnant.  By 
this  trait  of  the  renewing  of  our  mind,  our  outward 
life  should  be  transformed.  In  that  outward  life 
our  spiritual  nature,  with  its  spiritual  motives  and 
aims  and  emotions,  should  reign. 

This  is  a  radically  important  statement.     Man  is 


THE  TRANSFORMATION  OF  THE  OUTWARD  LIFE.       251 

a  creature  of  two  worlds.  He  is  formed  out  of  the 
dust  of  the  earth;  but  God  has  breathed  into  him 
the  breath  of  life.  We  are  allied  by  our  animal 
nature,  including  our  understanding — for  brute  ani- 
mals understand — to  this  lower  world.  "We  are  allied 
by  our  spiritual  nature  to  the  angels  and  to  God. 
Both  can  not  rule.  A  man  must  be  guided  by  the 
one  nature  or  the  other.  He  must  be  ruled  either 
by  the  nature  which  allies  him  to  the  seen  and  the 
temporal,  or  by  the  nature  which  allies  him  to  the 
unseen  or  eternal  world.  Spiritual  motives,  on  the 
one  hand,  or  fleshly  and  worldly  motives  on  the 
other,  must  determine  the  form  of  his  outward  life. 
As  Christ  finds  men,  as  the  Gospel  finds  them,  they 
are  ruled  by  the  latter.  I  do  not  mean  that  they 
are  all  mere  sensual  brutes ;  that  they  are  all  given 
up  to  eating  and  drinking,  to  the  gratification  of 
physical  appetites  in  their  grosser  forms;  not  at  all. 
It  has  often  been  shown  that  the  animals  below  us 
possess  the  rudiments  of  the  love  of  beauty,  which 
in  the  higher  animal  man,  reveals  itself  in  the  love 
of  fine  art.  It  has  been  shown,  also,  that  brutes  pos- 
sess hope  and  fear,  that  they  reason  about  things 
which  they  see,  and  that  thus  they  possess  the  rudi- 
ments of  that  very  understanding  which  men  exer- 
cise in  buying  and  selling,  in  making  bargains,  in 
seeking  wealth,  and  building  homes.  All  this  be- 
longs to  the  lower  and  animal  life  of  man.  And 
if  a  man's  outward  life  is  formed  by  motives  drawn 
simply  from  his  business  or  his  pleasures,  though 
these  pleasures  are  the  result  of  the  most  cultivated 
artistic  taste,  it  is  scientifically  true  to  say  that  he 
is  governed  by  his  lower,  his  animal  nature;  that 
he  is  living  for  the  seen  and  the  temporal ;  that  he 
is  dominated  by  the  fashion  of  this  world  that  pass- 


252  SERMONS    ON   THE    CHRISTIAN   LIFE. 

eth  away,  and  that  whatever  else  is  true  of  him,  this 
certainly  is  true:  "Except  the  man  be  born  again, 
he  shall  not  see  the  kingdom  of  God." 

But  we  are  conscious  of  another  nature;  a  nature 
of  which  something  more  than  the  mere  under- 
standing and  the  love  of  beauty  may  be  affirmed ;  a 
nature  that  recognizes  God;  a  nature  that  sees  the 
beauty  of  holiness  and  appreciates  the  singular  force 
of  moral  motives;  a  nature  by  which  we  discern  the 
final  cause  of  the  universe  to  be  God's  glory;  a  nat- 
ure by  which  we  pray  and  worship  with  the  rapture 
of  .the  burning  seraphim.  No  mere  animal  possesses 
the  rudiments  of  this  nature.  This  is  the  image  of 
God  in  man.  This  is  his  crown  and  scepter;  and 
thus  he  has  dominion  over  the  fowls  of  the  air,  and 
the  beasts  of  the  field,  and  the  fish  of  the  sea.  This 
is  his  spiritual  nature.  And  as  I  have  said,  this  is 
the  nature  which  was  made  regnant  when  the  Chris- 
tian was  regenerated;  at  the  renewing  of  his  mind. 
And  it  is  in  view  of  this  re-instatement  of  the  spir- 
itual nature  as  ruler,  that  the  Apostle  presses  the 
exhortation:  Let  this  renewing  of  your  mind  trans- 
figure your  outward  life.  "  Be  ye  transformed  by  the 
renewing  of  your  mind." 

Thus,  dear  friends,  by  the  method  prescribed  by 
the  Apostle  we  reach  the  first  essential  trait  of  the 
outward  life  of  Christians.  Our  outward  life,  so  far 
as  it  is  Christian,  is  a  life  ruled  by  our  spiritual  nat- 
ure. It  is  a  life  governed  by  spiritual  motives,  a  life 
determined  by  spiritual  aims.  Let  us  test  our  conduct 
of  life  by  this  great  truth.  From  what  region  of  our 
being,  let  us  ask  ourselves,  do  we  draw  the  ruling 
motives  of  our  daily  careers?  Observe  that  I  am 
uttering  no  rules  to  bind  your  consciences.  I  am  but 
proceeding  in  a  straight  line  from  our  regeneration 


THE  TRANSFORMATION  OF  THE  OUTWARD  LIFE.      253 

to  its  logical  consequences  in  our  life  before  the 
world.  Let  us  not  dare  to  conceal  these  from  our 
minds.  Certainly  I  may  not  hide  them  from  you, 
when  I  speak  as  a  teacher  in  things  pertaining  to 
godliness.  And,  therefore,  I  repeat,  let  us  ask  our- 
selves— since  there  is  a  transformation  going  on 
in  us — by  what  part  of  our  being  is  that  transfor- 
mation effected;  by  that  which  associates  us  with 
God,  or  by  that  which  allies  us  to  this  lower  world? 
No  question  more  important  could  be  asked  con- 
cerning us,  than  the  question :  Is  it  true  that  we 
are  transformed  by  this  trait  of  the  renewing  of 
our  mind? 

But  this  is  not  all.  Did  I  stop  here,  I  might 
seem  to  be  teaching  that  sin  is  a  mere  physical 
defect,  and  that  the  moment  we  are  removed  from 
this  world  and  from  this  animal  nature,  sin  will 
of  course  cease.  This  is  not  true.  Every  man,  as 
I  have  already  said,  has  a  spiritual  nature;  but 
though  that  spiritual  nature  be  dominant  within 
him,  and  though  he  draw  his  reigning  motives  from 
it,  he  may  still  be  an  incorrigibly  wicked  man. 
Herein  lies  the  danger  of  eternal  sin.  AVas  it  by  a 
physical  sin  that  the  angels  fell?  Does  the  Bible 
teach  us  that  the  hosts  that  kept  not  their  first 
estate  forfeited  it  by  lifting  their  animal  nature  into 
the  position  of  rule?  Not  at  all.  So  far  as  we  know, 
they  do  not  possess  such  a  nature.  And  thus  is 
brought  to  view  the  awful  truth — a  truth  not  often 
enough  and  not  distinctly  enough  insisted  on — that 
the  terrible  thing  in  sin  is  that  it  is  a  perversion 
of  the  spiritual  nature  itself.  And  therefore — and 
this  is  the  second  essential  trait  of  our  regenera- 
tion— not  only  is  the  spiritual  nature  in  man  made 
dominant,  but  the  spiritual  nature  itself  is  renewed, 


254  SERMONS    ON    THE    CHRISTIAN   LIFE. 

and  made  to  find  its  proper  end  in  the  living  and 
the  holy  God.  This  is  the  second  trait  of  the  life 
that  was  born  within  us  at  the  new  birth.  Thus 
it  is,  that  our  new  life  finds  its  highest  expression 
in  obedience  to  the  great  commandment:  "Thou 
shalt  love  with  all  thy  heart,  and  soul,  and  mind, 
and  strength  the  Lord  thy  God."  It  is  into  the 
Kingdom  of  God  that  as  Christians  we  were  born. 
As  Christ  said  to  Nicodemus:  "Except  a  man  be 
born  again,  he  can  not  see  God's  Kingdom."  Ob- 
serve the  distinction.  It  is  not  only  true  that  our 
spiritual  nature  reigns,  but  it  reigns  to  the  end,  that 
we  may  glorify  not  ourselves,  but  God. 

As  we  hold  clearly  before  our  minds  this  second 
essential  element  of  our  regeneration  we  under- 
stand how  purely  spiritual  beings  may  sin.  They 
can  not  murder  or  steal  or  commit  adultery;  but 
they  can  turn  from  God  and  live  each  for  self.  Am- 
bition— self  as  opposed  to  God — this  is  the  essence 
of  sin,  and  the  existence  of  it  therefore  is  not  limited 
by  this  physical  life.  It  may  be  eternal.  Now,  the 
Spirit  of  God,  in  the  renewing  of  the  mind,  revo- 
lutionizes man  in  this  second  respect.  The  spirit 
of  man  lives  no  longer  for  self  as  the  chief  end,  but 
for  God.  And  the  first  cry  of  every  renewed  heart 
is  the  cry  of  converted  Saul  of  Tarsus :  "  Lord,  what 
wilt  thou  have  me  to  do  ?  "  So  were  we  renewed  in 
our  mind. 

And  now  recall  the  exhortation  of  the  Apostle. 
Let  this  renewing  transfigure  your  outward  life.- 
"  Be  ye  transformed  by  the  renewing  of  your  mind." 
Is  our  outward  life  thus  transfigured?  Is  it  true 
that,  in  our  business,  in  our  pleasure,  in  our  home 
life,  in  all  the  places  and  relations  in  which  we  meet 
and  touch  our  fellow-men,  we   are  living  for  God? 


THE  TRANSFORMATION  OF  THE   OUTWARD  LIFE.     255 

Are  the  motives — I  mean  the  supreme  motives — 
that  actuate  us,  drawn  from  our  relations  to  Him 
who  is  our  King  and  Father  and  Judge  ?  I  do  not 
mean  that  these  must  always  be  our  "most  con- 
scious" motives.  I  do  not  mean  that  they  must  take 
the  place  of  all  other  motives.  But  I  do  mean  that 
they  must  underlie  all  others  and  like  the  foundation 
of  a  temple  must  be  the  fundamental  support  of 
all  the  rest.  I  say  again  that  I  am  binding  your 
consciences  by  no  rules.  I  am  proceeding  with  log- 
ical precision  from  your  inward  to  your  outward 
life. 

Once  more — going  back  to  our  regeneration — it  is 
not  only  true  that  the  Spirit  of  God  makes  our  spirit- 
ual nature  dominant,  and  that  our  spiritual  nature 
itself  is  so  renewed  that  it  finds  its  end  in  God;  it 
is  also  true  that  it  is  renewed  after  an  example;  and 
this  example  is  Jesus  Christ.  This  is  the  third  es- 
sential element  of  our  regeneration.  Our  spiritual 
nature  rules;  we  live  for  God;  we  live  after  the 
example  of  Christ.  Thus  is  He  the  first-born  among 
many  brethren.  And  therefore  you  find  in  the  New 
Testament  such  exhortations  as:  "Let  this  mind  be 
in  you  which  was  also  in  Christ;"  and  such  assertions 
as:  "If  any  man  have  not  the  Spirit  of  Christ,  he 
is  none  of  his  ;"  and  such  confessions  as  :  "For  me  to 
live  is  Christ."  Thus  by  his  wTord  and  his  life  does 
Christ  show  our  spirits  how  to  live  to  God.  Thus 
is  He  the  Light  that  lighteth  every  man;  the  Way, 
the  Truth  and  the  Life.  When  therefore  theApostle 
says:  "Be  ye  transformed  by  the  renewing  of  your 
mind,"  his  words  have  the  force  of  the  exhorta- 
tion: Let  the  Spirit  of  Christ's  life  be  reproduced 
in  your  lives  before  men ;  and,  since  you  have  been 
renewed  in  Him,  be  conformed  to  Him.      Have  we 


256  SERMONS    ON    THE    CHRISTIAN   LIFE. 

obeyed  this  injunction,  brethren  ?  Did  we  obey 
it  last  week?  In  honoring  God,  in  living  for  men, 
in  subordinating  our  lower  life  to  our  higher,  has 
it  been  true  of  us  that  we  have  walked  as  Christ 
would  have  walked,  had  He  been  placed  on  the 
path  which  we  have  been  called  to  tread?  Again 
I  say,  I  am  binding  your  consciences  by  no  arbi- 
trary rules.  I  am  but  asking  you  to  apply  to  your 
daily  lives  the  essential  elements  of  that  life  into 
which  you  profess  as  Christians  to  have  been  born. 

And  now,  to  sum  up  what  I  have  said  in  a  single 
sentence:  the  outward  life  that  becomes  a  Chris- 
tian, is  one  in  which  the  lower  nature  is  subordi- 
nated to  the  higher  and  spiritual  nature,  one  in 
which  our  spirits  live  for  God,  and  one  in  loving 
imitation  of  the  example  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ. 
I  do  not  see  what  less  I  could  have  said  on  this 
subject.  I  do  not  see  how,  by  stripping  Christian- 
ity of  all  its  accidental  accretions  and  reducing  it 
to  its  essential  traits,  I  could  have  made  it  less  than 
this.  If  regeneration  is  intended  to  affect  our  out- 
ward life  at  all,  this  is  the  outward  life  that  it  must 
secure.  This  is  the  transformation  effected  by  the 
renewing  of  our  minds: — the  spirit  dominating  the 
flesh;  God  in  place  of  self;  Christ,  the  example,  in 
place  of  the  world.  When  these  three  traits  appear 
in  a  man's  outward  life,  that  man  is  a  Christian, 
judged  by  the  essential  elements  of  regeneration. 

But  there  may  arise  in  some  minds  the  question: 
"Who,  then,  can  be  saved?  Was  Paul,  who  con- 
fessed that  often  his  spirit  was  subjugated  by  the  flesh  ? 
Was  Paul  saved,  who  cried:  "0!  wretched  that  I 
am,  carnal,  and  sold  under  sin,  who  shall  deliver 
me  from  the  body  of  this  death?"  And  I  reply:  It 
is  true,  indeed,  that  a  Christian  may  fall.     It  is  true 


THE  TRANSFORMATION  OF  THE  OUTWARD  LIFE.       257 

that  he  may  be  surprised  into  sin.  But  it  is  not 
true  that  he  will  abandon  himself  to  its  rule.  This 
same  Paul  said  also :  "  With  my  mind,  I  serve  the 
law  of  God."  And  of  this  same  Paul,  it  was  also 
true  that  never  until  God  released  him  from  the  body 
did  he  cease  to  fight;  to  beat  his  body,  to  war 
against  his  selfishness,  to  press  on  that  he  might 
win  Christ.  The  difference  between  a  Christian  and 
one  who  is  not  a  Christian  is  not  that  one  does  not 
fall  into  sin  and  the  other  does ;  but  that  the  Chris- 
tian, though  he  falls,  still  fights  and  prays  and  longs 
until  he  is  thoroughly  transformed. 

We  shall  see  how  a  man  can  be  a  Christian  with- 
out being  perfect,  if  we  keep  in  view  the  difference 
between  the  two  terms  of  the  text:  "transformation" 
and  "renewal."  The  renewal  is  complete;  the  trans- 
formation is  incomplete.  The  renewal  is  instanta- 
neous; the  transformation  is  a  life-long  work.  The 
renewal  is  the  planting  of  the  seed;  the  transforma- 
tion is  the  growth  of  the  tree.  The  renewal  is  the 
work  of  the  Spirit  of  God;  the  transformation  is  our 
work.  The  renewal  of  the  mind  is  without  degree; 
the  transformation  is  a  work  of  degrees.  The  re- 
newal is  of  our  inward  life ;  the  transformation  is  of 
our  outward  life.  The  renewal  is  the  cause,  of  which 
the  transformation  is  the  effect.  Hence  we  may  be 
thoroughly  renewed  and  only  partially  transformed. 
The  dominion  over  our  lower  life  may  not  be  com- 
plete; God  may  not  always  be  distinctly  before  us 
as  the  chief  end  of  our  souls;  Christ  may  still  be 
followed  only  afar  off.  But  this  is  true:  that  the 
transformation  will  always  follow  and  be  like  the 
renewal.  And  by  the  power  of  the  new  life  the 
transformation  will  go  forward  from  grace  to  grace 
until,   made  perfect  in  holiness,  we  shall  pass  into 


258  SERMONS   ON   THE   CHRISTIAN   LIFE. 

glory.  I  do  not  say,  therefore,  that  in  order  to  be 
Christians  yon  must  never  sin.  But  I  do  say,  the 
Word  of  God  compels  me  to  say,  that  you  must 
never  have  a  lower  ideal  than  that  I  have  described; 
and  that  against  your  lower  nature,  against  your 
sellishness  and  against  the  world,  by  lighting,  by 
tears,  by  agonizing  struggle  and  by  prayer,  you 
must  seek  to  make  the  ideal  actual  in  yourselves. 
This  is  Christianity,  and  nothing  less  is  Chris- 
tianity. This  is  transformation  by  the  renewing  of 
your  mind.  Can  this  be  said  of  us?  If  it  can,  eter- 
nal life  is  ours,  and  all  the  bliss  of  an  inheritance 
that  is  incorruptible  and  that  fadeth  not  away. 

In  conclusion,  let  me  say,  that  the  transformation, 
which  I  have  so  imperfectly  described  is  possible  in 
Christ  alone.  If  you  are  not  transformed  by  his  life 
implanted  by  the  renewing  Spirit,  you  will  be  trans- 
formed by  the  power  of  the  indwelling  sin.  And  sin 
transforms  the  human  into  the  satanic.  And  the 
satanic  soul  can  see  naught  before  it,  and  can  hope 
for  naught  but  wickedness  and  wretchedness  for 
evermore.  God  help  us  and  save  us  from  ourselves, 
through  Jesus  Christ  our  Lord. 


XVII. 
THE  CHRISTIAN  NAME. 

"And  the  disciples  were  called  Christians  first  at  Antioch." — 
Acts  xi,  26. 

I  shall  speak  first  of  the  origin,  and  secondly  of 
the  meaning  of  the  Christian  name. 

I.  Antioch  was  to  Syria  what  Jerusalem  was  to 
Palestine,  at  once  the  metropolis  and  the  capital. 
No  city  in  the  whole  empire — Rome  alone  excepted — 
equaled  it  in  beauty  of  situation  and  wealth  of 
adornment.  Upon  the  plain  on  which  it  stood, 
between  the  river  Orontes  which  flowed  before  it 
and  Mount  Silphius  which  stood  in  its  rear,  were 
gathered  at  this  time  scarcely  less  than  four  hundred 
thousand  inhabitants.  The  patronage  of  the  king 
who  founded  it  assured  it  a  speedy  growth.  Its 
position  soon  made  it  a  great  commercial  emporium. 
"When  the  kingdom  was  made  a  province  of  Rome, 
Antioch  was  endowed  with  the  privileges  of  a  free 
city.  The  glories  of  its  climate  attracted  to  it  the 
inhabitants  of  the  capital.  It  outgrew  its  bounds 
and  spread  itself  over  an  exquisite  island  in  the  river. 
"What  art  associated  with  pagan  religion  could  do  to 
adorn  a  city  for  which  nature  had  done  so   much 


260  SERMONS    ON    THE    CHRISTIAN    LIFE. 

was  done,  not  only  by  its  inhabitants,  but  by  suc- 
cessive emperors.  A  citadel  crowned  one  and  a  tem- 
ple to  Jupiter  crowned  another  of  the  summits  of 
the  mountain ;  "  a  glorious  street  extended  for  four 
miles  across  the  length«of  the  city,  where  sheltered 
crowds  could  walk  through  continuous  colonnades, 
from  the  eastern  to  the  western  suburb."  Its  baths 
were  scarcely  less  luxurious  than  those  of  Rome,  and 
helped  the  citizen  of  the  imperial  capital  to  regret  the 
less  his  distance  from  the  center  and  mistress  of  the 
world.  While  its  gardens  and  walls  and  statues  and 
aqueducts  and  basilicas,  the  gifts  of  Roman  benev- 
olence and  the  monuments  of  Roman  conquest,  con- 
tinually stimulated  his  pride  by  the  reflection  which 
they  awakened,  that  his  country  conquered  only  to 
strengthen  and  adorn. 

Not  more  than  five  miles  from  the  city  stood  one 
of  the  most  elegant  shrines  in  the  world.  "A  mag- 
nificent temple  was  built  in  honor  of  Apollo,  and 
his  figure  almost  filled  the  capacious  sanctuary. 
Around  this  sanctuary  grew  the  village  of  Daphne." 
Gibbon,  from  whose  description  I  am  quoting,  has 
told  us,  that  "the  temple  and  the  village  alike 
were  deeply  bosomed  in  a  thick  grove  of  laurels 
and  cypresses,  which  formed,  in  sultry  summers,  a 
cool  and  impenetrable  shade.  A  thousand  streams 
of  purest  water,  issuing  from  every  hill,  preserved 
the  verdure  of  the  earth  and  the  temperature  of 
the  air;  the  senses  were  gratified  with  harmonious 
sounds  and  aromatic  odors."  But  the  rites  prac- 
ticed and  the  pleasures  pursued  attested  only  too 
well  the  fact,  that  the  religion  which  consecrated, 
and  the  art  which  adorned  the  shrine,  had  become 
the  instruments  of  the  grossest  immorality. 

The  city  was  almost  as  cosmopolitan  as  Rome  it- 


THE    CHRISTIAN   NAME.  261 

self.  There  was,  indeed,  no  Pantheon,  which  held 
within  its  ample  walls  the  gods  of  all  the  provinces, 
but  nearly  all  the  gods  were  represented  by  their  vari- 
ous worshipers.  It  had  been  easy,  during  this  period, 
to  have  gathered  in  Antioch  a  group  representing  as 
many  nationalities,  as  were  represented  by  those 
who,  a  little  while  before  in  Jerusalem,  had  heard 
the  fishermen  of  secluded  Galilee  declare  in  their 
several  tongues,  the  wonderful  works  of  God.  Par- 
tisans and  Medes  and  Elamites  and  dwellers  in 
Mesopotamia  and  in  Judea  and  Cappadocia,  in  Pon- 
tus  and  Asia,  Phrygia  and  Pamphylia,  in  Epypt  and 
Libya,  and  strangers  of  Rome,  Jews,  Cretes  and 
Arabians  beheld  each  other's  strange  attire,  and 
heard  each  other's  languages  on  the  sheltered  walk 
of  its  central  colonnade.  What  London  is  to-day, 
and  what  New  York  is  fast  becoming,  Antioch  was 
when  Luke  wrote  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles. 

Though  thus  cosmopolitan,  Antioch  was  by  no 
means  without  a  character  peculiarly  its  own.  It 
was,  indeed,  a  great  commercial  center;  but  a  large 
class  of  the  population — the  class  which  gave  char- 
acter to  its  social  life — were  not  engaged  in  commer- 
cial pursuits;  they  were  the  wards  of  the  govern- 
ment, made  rich  by  the  plunder  of  provinces.  These, 
with  the  lower  classes,  divided  their  time  between 
devotions  and  amusements.  We  are  told  that  both 
Jewish  impostors  and  Chaldean  astrologers  found 
the  citizens  of  Antioch  an  easy  prey,  and  that  the 
alarm,  which  these  produced,  they  sought  to  dissipate 
in  the  enjoyments  of  the  theater.  It  was  doubtless 
from  their  devotion  to  this  latter  amusement  that 
they  attained  the  facility,  noticed  by  contempora- 
neous historians,  of  stigmatizing  what  they  disliked 
with  a  name  of  derision — a  facility  to  which  the  dis- 


262  SERMONS    ON    THE    CHRISTIAN    LIFE. 

ciples  of  Christ  are  probably  indebted  for  the  name 
by  which  they  have  since  that  time  been  known. 

Holding  in  our  minds  the  character  and  position 
of  Antioch,  it  is  not  difficult  to  understand  why  it 
was  selected,  after  the  persecution  in  Jerusalem  had 
driven  them  from  the  capital  of  Palestine,  as  the 
center  of  the  disciples'  operations.  Its  cosmopolitan 
character  made  it  hospitable  to  the  new  sect;  its  com- 
mercial character  fitted  it  to  become  a  starting  point 
of  the  great  missionary  journey  soon  to  be  begun  by 
the  lately  converted  Saul  of  Tarsus ;  while  the  diver- 
sity of  population,  sojourning  within  its  walls,  aided 
the  Apostles  in  spreading  through  every  quarter  of 
the  Empire  the  tidings  that  a  new  religion  had  been 
given,  that  could  be  monopolized  by  no  one  nation 
or  asre,  but  would  be  for  all  men  and  all  time  alike. 
Thus  it  was  that  Antioch  became  what  Jerusalem  had 
been  to  the  disciples.  Thither  came  Paul.  There 
the  hand  of  the  Lord  was  with  them,  and  a  great 
number  believed  and  turned  unto  the  Lord.  And 
there,  inspired  and  encouraged  by  tokens  of  their 
Master's  approval,  a  whole  year  was  passed  in  form- 
ing and  maturing  new  and  larger  plans  for  the  prop- 
agation of  the  faith  of  Calvary. 

Up  to  this  time  the  disciples  had  been  without  a 
distinctive  name.  The  Jews  indeed  had  called  them 
Nazarenes.  But  the  Gentiles  had  failed  to  distin- 
guish them  from  other  Jews,  so  long  as  they  re- 
mained in  Jerusalem.  Not  long  since  there  was 
said  to  be  an  extended  revival,  and,  what  usually 
follows  such  a  revival,  a  division  among  the  disciples 
of  Mohammed.  The  enthusiasm,  which  during  the 
Crusades  enabled  the  infidel  to  drive  back  the  Chris- 
tian Templar  from  the  tomb  of  the  Saviour,  has  been 
reawakened  in  countries  of  which  we  know  scarcely 


THE    CHRISTIAN   NAME.  263 

more  than  their  "boundaries.  However  fierce  may  be 
the  hostility  between  the  sects  thus  created,  we  are 
unable  to  appreciate  it.  Islam  is  one  to  us.  We 
discern  no  difference  between  the  Mussulman  of  Con- 
stantinople and  the  Mussulman  of  Mecca.  Of  like 
character  was  the  ignorance  of  the  heathen  world  as 
to  the  difference  between  the  Jews  who  accepted  and 
the  Jews  who  rejected  Jesus  of  Nazareth,  so  long  as 
the  former  remained  in  Jerusalem.  Their  internal 
quarrels  had  little  interest  for  the  Gentile,  and  were 
scarcely  understood  by  him.  To  the  Roman  and  the 
Greek  they  were  subjects  of  one  province,  devotees 
of  one  religion  and  sharers  in  the  same  hope. 

But  when  the  Church  came  to  Antioch,  all  this 
was  changed.  It  could  not  fail  to  impress  the  most 
casual  observer  that  the  difference  between  them  was 
radical.  A  name  which  one  pronounced  with  bitterest 
animosity,  the  other  never  uttered  save  in  reverence 
and  love.  A  life  which  one  party  held  up  for  execra- 
tion, the  other  held  up  for  admiration  and  faith.  A 
death  which  one  Jew  proclaimed  the  deserved  death  of 
a  criminal,  the  other  announced  as  the  appointed  sac- 
rifice of  the  Son  of  God.  The  Gentile  living  or  so- 
journing in  Antioch  could  no  longer  call  the  new 
party  Jews,  for  it  was  evident  that  this  word  did  not 
sufficiently  describe  or  distinguish  them.  The  neces- 
sity for  a  name  became  more  and  more  apparent.  Con- 
verts were  multiplying.  Those  who  a  short  time  since 
were  but  an  aggregation  of  disciples  were  rapidly  crys- 
tallizing into  a  compact  body,  and  were  becoming  a 
power  both  in  the  city  and  the  province.  Who  first 
gave  the  name  it  is  idle  to  conjecture;  as  idle  in- 
deed as  to  inquire  who  first  said  Puritan  or  Metho- 
dist. That  the  name  came  from  the  Jews  is  improb- 
able, for  they  would  scarcely  have  called  the  disciples 


2G4  SERMONS    ON    THE    CHRISTIAN    LIFE. 

by  a  name  which  acknowledged  the  Nazarene  as  the 
( Ihriflt.  That  it  came  from  the  disciples  themselves  is 
scarcely  less  probable,  for  we  do  not  find  any  one  of 
them  using  it  except  Peter,  and  he  only  once,  and  that 
twenty  years  after  it  had  been  bestowed.  That  it 
came  from  the  inhabitants  of  the  city  it  seems  rea- 
sonable to  suppose;  for  their  facility  in  designation 
was  almost  a  proverb.  That  it  was  given  as  a  term 
of  reproach  we  can  not  but  believe,  for  that  was  the 
feeling  with  which  the  disciples  were  regarded.  At 
any  rate,  the  name  came,  was  repeated  from  lip  to 
lip,  the  association  was  soon  complete,  and  once  com- 
pleted it  remained,  and  remains  to  this  day,  the 
universally  accepted  designation  of  the  successors  of 
those  disciples,  who  were  called  Christians  first  at 
Antioeh. 

I  have  been  thus  particular  in  narrating  the 
origin  of  the  Christian  name,  because  it  were  un- 
reasonable to  suppose  that  any  Christian  can  be  un- 
interested in  the  subject.  "We  may  often  repeat  to 
ourselves  the  question:  "What's  in  a  name?"  and 
affect  an  indifference  to  the  designation  by  which 
our  family  is  known ;  but  I  have  never  yet  met  the 
man  who  was  without  interest  in  the  origin  of  the 
patronymic  which  he  had  received  from  his  ances- 
tors, and  would  transmit  to  his  children.  And  be- 
cause we  are  a  household  of  faith,  every  one  of  us 
should  have  the  same  interest  in  kind,  in  the  name 
by  which  all  the  children  of  our  mother,  dear  Jeru- 
salem, are  known  among  men. 

II.  But  the  subject  has  an  interest  quite  other  than 
historical.  It  suggests,  or  should  suggest,  lessons  of 
personal  and  immediate  interest  to  every  one  of  us. 
And  it  is  for  the  purpose  of  setting  these  forth  that  I 
ask  your  attention  to  the  imj)ort  of  the  name  first 


THE    CHRISTIAN   NAME.  265 

given   the  disciples  at  Antioch — the   import  of  the 
Christian  name. 

You  will  be  prepared,  by  what  has  already  been 
said  to  be  told,  first  of  all,  that  it  was  a  sign  of  the 
disciples'  separation  from  other  men.  Mark  what  I 
say:  It  was  a  sign  of  their  separation.  The  name 
did  not  cause,  it  was  the  effect  of  the  separation. 
The  inhabitants  of  Antioch  discerned,  as  has  been 
remarked  already,  a  wide,  indeed,  a  radical  difference 
between  the  Jews  who  maintained  the  old  worship 
of  the  synagogue  and  obeyed  the  traditions  of  their 
elders,  and  the  other  Jews,  the  Nazarenes,  who  cried: 
"  The  time  is  fulfilled,  the  law  has  been  abrogated  and 
the  Kingdom  of  heaven  is  among  men."  There  was 
that  which  they  believed  in  common.  Neither  bowed 
down  before  a  statue  of  their  Divinity,  and  both  de- 
clared his  omnipresence.  They  sang  many  of  the  same 
hymns,  and  used  many  of  the  same  forms  of  devotion. 
But  there  was  a  hope  shared  by  one  set  of  Jews  in 
which  the  other  had  no  part,  and  with  which  they  had 
no  sympathy.  There  was  a  name  continually  upon 
the  lips  of  one,  which  the  other  uttered  only  to  de- 
nounce. The  one  looked  backward  to  a  deliverer 
already  come ;  the  other  looked  forward  to  a  deliverer 
who  had  not  appeared.  They  might  both  indeed  be 
Jews,  as  the  inhabitants  of  Gaul  and  the  inhabitants 
of  Bithynia  were  alike  subjects  of  the  Empire;  but 
between  their  religions  was  a  difference  as  wide  as 
the  difference  between  the  garb  of  the  trader  who 
had  come  from  the  south  shore  of  the  Euxine,  and 
the  garb  of  the  trader  who  had  sailed  from  the  west- 
ern shore  of  the  Mediterranean.  Separated  thus  from 
those  to  whom  they  were  allied;  separated  in  hope, 
in  belief,  in  rite  and  conduct, — the  name  was  given 
as  a   sign   of  separation.      Henceforth  they  were   a 


2G6  SERMONS    ON    THE    CHRISTIAN   LIFE. 

peculiar  people;   they  stood  alone,  and  apart  from 
all  others. 

And  not  less  now  than  then,  Christian  friends, 
should  this  name  be  regarded  as  a  sign  of  separation 
from  other  men.  Not,  indeed,  that  the  name  separates 
us  in  any  other  sense  than  that  of  indicating  a  sepa- 
ration already  made.  Our  acceptance  of  it  is  the  ac- 
knowledgment of  an  accomplished  fact.  If  we  are 
indeed  Christians,  we  are  separated  men  and  women ; 
separated  by  the  new  hopes  we  cherish,  by  the  new 
obligations  we  have  taken  upon  ourselves,  by  the 
new  privileges  we  enjoy,  by  the  new  example  we 
profess  to  follow,  by  the  new  spirit  which  consecrates 
our  lives.  We  can  not  afford  to  lose  sight  of  this 
truth.  I  would  not  hide  for  one  moment  the  other 
great  truth,  of  which  Christianity  is  the  only  revela- 
tion, that  all  men  are  the  children  of  God,  and  have 
a  right  to  say,  "  Our  Father."  But  if  "  Christian  " 
means  any  thing,  those  who  are  Christ's  are  chil- 
dren in  virtue  of  an  adoption  which  others  have  not 
received,  and  in  virtue  of  a  new  birth  which  others 
have  not  experienced.  I  would  not  deny  or  depress 
the  truth,  that  all  men  are  brethren;  but  there  is  a 
household  of  faith  to  which  the  world  does  not  be- 
long. We  are  too  prone,  in  these  days,  to  shrink 
from  the  stigma  of  separation.  But  if  we  are  Chris- 
tians, we  are  a  peculiar  people;  and  the  fact  should 
call  forth  the  question  from  every  professed  disciple: 
"  If  I  am  thus  separated,  how  do  I  make  my  separa- 
tion manifest  among  men  ?" 

But  this  is  only  a  negative  view  of  the  meaning 
of  the  name.  It  is  to  be  remarked,  more  positively, 
that  the  name  reveals  the  fact  that  the  world  at 
once  seized  the  important  and  radical  truth,  that  the 
Christian  religion  is  intensely  individual.    The  name 


THE    CHRISTIAN   NAME.  2G7 

given  them  was  not  a  collective  name.  They  did  not 
describe  these  disciples  as  the  Church.  The  name  is 
indeed  the  name  of  a  class,  but  it  is  not  the  name  of 
a  body.  It  described  individuals  as  individuals — as 
possessing  each  a  character,  and  as  holding  each  a 
belief.  It  is  important  to  recall  this  fact.  The  name 
was  evidently  given  them  because  of  something 
distinctive  in  the  conduct  and  attitude  of  these  dis- 
ciples. It  is  scarcely  to  be  doubted,  that  had  Christi- 
anity, as  represented  by  its  disciples,  first  made  itself 
known  as  an  institution — as  a  definitely  organized 
Church — this  would  have  appeared  in  the  name  by 
which  they  were  designated.  Because  it  did  not  so 
make  itself  known,  but  as  a  Gospel  to  be  received 
and  believed  by  individuals,  the  people  of  Antioch 
gave  its  believers  a  name  to  be  applied  to  individuals. 
It  was  far  from  the  purpose  of  the  Apostles  to  estab- 
lish an  organic  body  which  should  seem  more  im- 
portant than  its  several  members.  They  were  sent 
to  individual  men.  And  the  Church,  the  outward 
organization,  was  intended  to  be  no  more  complex 
than  would  be  necessary  most  efficiently  to  bring  the 
souls  of  men  into  harmonious  relation  with  Christ. 
When  Church  organization  becomes  so  important  or 
is  so  emphasized,  as  to  impress  the  world  more  than 
the  Christianity  of  its  members,  a  large  interval  has 
been  traveled  from  the  position  occupied  by  the  dis- 
ciples at  Antioch.  I  have  not  time  to  dwell  at  length 
on  this  branch  of  the  subject.  Let  me  say,  however, 
that  there  is  in  all  communions — in  some  the  ten- 
dency is  stronger  and  more  evident  than  in  others — 
there  is  in  all  communions  a  tendency  to  emphasize 
the  Church  at  the  expense  of  individual  Christianity. 
There  is  an  "ism"  which  we  may  fitly  describe  as 
churchism,  which  exalts  the  institutions  of  religion 


268  SERMONS    ON    THE    CHRISTIAN    LIFE. 

above  personal  religion;  in  the  view  of  which  the 
organization  and  its  canons  are  of  more  importance 
than  the  character  and  life  of  the  individual.  Had 
the  first  disciples  been  disposed,  in  those  formative 
days,  to  establish  a  hierarchy  which  should  itself 
startle  or  impress  those  to  whom  they  proclaimed 
the  Gospel,  we  may  be  sure  that  this  fact  would 
have  appeared  in  the  name  which  was  first  given 
them.  Had  they  busied  themselves  most  of  all  about 
councils  or  synods  or  successions  or  ordinations,  it 
is  not  to  be  doubted  that  the  citizens  of  Autioch 
would  have  incorporated  that  tendency  in  their  des- 
ignation. On  the  contrary,  let  it  be  noticed,  they 
gave  the  disciples  a  name  which  is  intensely  indi- 
vidual. Not  a  word  of  the  Church  do  we  hear. 
The  disciples  were  called  Christians  first  at  Autioch. 
But  not  to  dwell  further  on  this,  I  remark  thirdly, 
that  the  name  given  by  the  people  of  Antioch  at 
least  suggests,  if  it  does  not  directly  teach  the  truth, 
that  the  interests  of  the  disciple  and  the  interests  of 
Christ  are  one.  This  is  the  truth  at  the  root  of  this 
word  Christian.  If  I  am  a  Christian,  then  in  a  high 
and  important  sense  Christ's  life  and  my  life  are  one. 
He  is  all  and  in  all  to  me.  If,  languishing  and 
in  despair,  I  look  for  hope,  I  must  if  I  would  find 
it  look  to  Christ;  Christ  in  me  is  the  hope  of  glory. 
If  ignorant  and  needing  spiritual  wisdom,  I  must 
repair  to  Christ  in  whom  are  hid  all  the  treasures  of 
divine  knowledge.  If  cast  down  and  needing  inspi- 
ration, I  must  consider  Him  who  endured  the  contra- 
diction of  sinners  against  Himself,  lest  I  grow  weary 
and  faint  in  mind.  If  I  desire  an  example,  I  can 
find  one  that  is  perfect  in  Him  alone  who  was  holy, 
harmless,  undefiled  and  separate  from  sinners.  If  in 
the  hour  of  temptation,  and  ready  to  yield,  I  require 


THE    CHRISTIAN   NAME.  269 

support,  He  alone  can  bestow  it  whose  strength  is 
perfected  in  our  weakness.  More  than  this,  Christ  is 
the  glory  of  his  disciples,  as  his  disciples  are  the  glory 
of  Christ.  More  than  this,  the  path  of  their  lives 
is  the  path  of  his  own.  Because  He  lives  they 
shall  live  also.  Such  is  the  intimacy  of  this  union 
that  the  Church  has  called  it  the  "  mystical "  union 
between  Christ  and  his  people,  and  the  language 
used  to  describe  it  in  the  Word  of  God  fully  justifies 
the  designation.  Christ  and  his  people  are  the  Vine 
and  its  branches.  They  are  the  Corner-stone  and 
living  stones  of  the  temple  which  is  the  habitation 
of  God.  They  are  the  Body  and  its  members.  And 
they  are  to  be  one  with  Him  as  He  is  one  with  the 
Father.  Let  us  confess,  friends,  that  there  is  much 
here  that  we  can  not  now  fully  comprehend.  The 
fact  and  the  promise  are  all  that  we  know.  This 
truth  the  disciples  proclaimed  in  Antioch; — the  one- 
ness of  Christ  and  his  people.  Is  it  any  wonder 
that  those  who  heard  them,  called  them  by  his  name, 
that  they  were  called  Christians  at  Antioch  ?  Look- 
ing back  now  upon  their  gatherings  in  that  city,  we 
can  hardly  think  of  them  as  known  by  any  other 
designation,  so  all  and  in  all  was  Christ  to  them. 

And  now  let  us  ask  ourselves,  who  call  ourselves 
Christians,  whether  this  oneness  with  Christ  is  an 
element  of  our  experience?  "What  is  the  meaning 
of  this  name  as  we  apply  it  to  ourselves?  Do  we 
indeed  look  to  Him  at  all  times  for  hope,  strength, 
inspiration,  example?  We  have  no  right  to  the  name 
if  we  can  not  answer  these  questions  aright.  It  often 
happens  that  the  meanings  of  words  in  the  course 
of  centuries  sutler  no  inconsiderable  change.  Often 
they  lose  the  intensity  of  significance  once  possessed 
by  them.     Is  not  this  somewhat  the  case  with  this 


270  SERMONS    ON    THE    CHRISTIAN    LIFE. 

word  Christian  as  made  use  of  by  us?    Let  each  one 
of  us  think  of  the  depth  of  meaning  the  word  pos- 
sessed when  it  was  first  bestowed,  and  seek  the  spirit 
of  these  first  disciples  whose  devotion  to  Christ  earned 
for  them  the  high  honor  of  being  called  by  his  name. 
In  addition  to  what  has  been  said  it  is  to  be  re- 
marked fourthly,  that  the  word  indicates  the  disci- 
ples' belief  in  the  divine  appointment  of  Christ  to  the 
work  He  did  for  them.     They  were  called  not  after 
Jesus  as  a  man,  but  Jesus  as  the  Christ,  the  anointed 
and   appointed  Messenger  of  God.      I  refer  to  this 
because,  as  we  are  all  aware,  it  is  not  uncommon 
nowadays  while  eulogizing  the  character  of  Jesus  of 
Nazareth,  to  put  out  of  view  the   divine  origin  and 
special  character  of  his  mission,  and  to  resolve  his 
redemptive  work  into  his  living  an  exceptionally  holy 
life.     And  personal  Christianity  is  reduced  to  an  ear- 
nest endeavor  to  reproduce  his  life  in  one's  own.     It 
is  undoubtedly  true   that  following  the   example  of 
Christ  is  no    small    part  of   discipleship.     But  that 
this    is  all  of   discipleship   is    far   from   being  true. 
Certainly  this  does  not  describe  the  Christianity  of 
these  disciples  at  Antioch,  whose  name  we  bear  and 
whose  successors  we  profess  to  be.     And  this  is  evi- 
dent not  only  from  their  whole  history,  but  also  from 
the  name  that  was  given  them.      The  name  Christ 
had  in  those  days  a  distinct  meaning.     It  described 
one  promised  and  sent  and  consecrated  to  his  work 
by  God.      In  recognizing  Jesus  of  Nazareth   as  the 
Christ,  they  confessed  their  faith  in  the  prophecies 
of   Israel   as    the    Word  of  God.       They  not    only 
professed  an  admiration  of  the  lofty  and  holy  char- 
acter   of   Jesus,    but  they  recognized  in    Him  that 
Messiah  in    whom  were   to  be  fulfilled  all   the  Old 
Testament  predictions  of  a  future  deliverer.     There 


THE    CHRISTIAN   NAME.  271 

may  have  been  in  Jerusalem,  and  doubtless  were, 
many  devout  Greeks  and  Jews  who  could  not  fail  to 
see  in  the  teacher  from  Galilee  a  beauty  of  character 
and  loftiness  of  aim  that  wonderfully  contrasted  with 
the  character  of  the  rulers  of  the  people.  But  such 
recognition,  even  joined  to  admiration  and  earnest 
striving  to  emulate  his  virtues,  would  not  have  en- 
titled such  Greeks  or  Jews  to  the  Christian  name. 
And  had  they  been  in  Antioch  at  the  time  the  disci- 
ples were  gathered  there,  the  inhabitants  of  Antioch 
would  not  have  made  the  mistake  of  confounding 
the  two. 

Christian  friends,  discipleship  is  more  than  admi- 
ration of  the  character  of  Jesus;  more  than  follow- 
ing his  example.  He  is  not  only  Jesus  but  the 
promised  Messiah  of  God.  "  Whom  do  men  say 
that  I  am  ? "  And  the  answer  of  the  Apostles  clearly 
indicated  that  there  were  many  of  his  own  nation 
not  wanting  in  admiration  of  Ilim.  "Some  say  that 
thou  art  Elias,  and  some  John  the  Baptist?"  "But 
whom  say  ye  that  I  am?"  Then  Simon  Peter  an- 
swered: "Thou  art  the  Christ,  the  Son  of  the  living 
God."  And  it  was  to  this  confession  of  faith  in  his 
divine  character  and  special  mission,  that  Jesus  made 
the  reply:  "  Upon  this  rock  I  will  build  my  Church." 

Let  us  not  be  deceived.  This  name,  taken  in  con- 
nection with  the  circumstances  of  its  bestowal,  shows 
clearly  that,  in  the  view  of  the  disciples  and  of  the 
world  among  whom  they  moved,  more  than  admi- 
ration of  Jesus  was  necessary  to  Christianity.  Belief 
of  his  words,  a  recognition  of  his  supreme  claims  as 
the  Son  of  the  living  God,  as  the  Redeemer  who 
came  from  heaven  in  obedience  to  God,  are  no  mere 
instruments,  no  mere  means  of  grace,  which  may  or 
may  not  be  dispensed  with;   they  are   essential  ele- 


272  SERMONS    ON    THE    CHRISTIAN   LIFE. 

ments  of  disciplcship,  without  which  one  has  no  right 
to  assume  the  Christian  name. 

Once  more,  the  name  suggests  the  truth,  that  the 
person  of  Christ  was  the  distinctive  object  of  their 
Christian  faith  and  hope.  They  were  called,  not  after 
what  He  said,  not  after  what  He  did,  but  after  Him. 
This  fact  is  not  without  its  meaning.  These  disci- 
ples, you  may  remember,  dwelt  in  these  early  days, 
with  peculiar  emphasis  upon  the  last  great  miracle 
performed  by  Christ — his  resurrection  from  the  dead. 
They  preached  Jesus  and  the  resurrection.  So  prom- 
inently did  they  hold  forth  the  fact  of  Christ's  and 
the  promise  of  man's  resurrection,  that  it  seems 
strange  that  they  were  not  called  by  a  name  derived 
from  this  fact.  That  they  should  believe  in  such  a 
consummation  must  have  seemed  more  singular  to 
the  men  of  Antioch,  than  that  they  were  the  disci- 
ples of  a  man  of  singular  purity  of  life,  and  not  less 
singular  claims.  And  as  names  are  given  to  describe 
peculiarities,  it  is  to  be  wondered  at,  that  we  find  in 
their  designation  no  reference  to  what  must  have 
seemed  to  the  Greeks  of  Antioch  a  most  singularly 
foolish  belief.  And  the  only  way  to  account  for 
the  fact  that  they  received  the  name  which  they 
did,  instead  of  a  name  derived  from  their  belief  in 
the  resurrection,  was  that  they  made  the  personal, 
the  living  Christ  so  much  more  prominent,  both 
in  all  they  said  of  their  religion,  and  in  all  their 
lives.  AVe  see  the  outworking  of  the  same  law  now- 
adays. There  are  many  to  whom  men  instinctively 
refer  by  the  name  of  the  special  communion  to 
which  they  belong.  The  peculiarities  of  their  sects 
standout  so  prominently  that  it  is  hard,  when  speak- 
ing of  them  as  religionists,  not  to  say  Presbyterian,  or 
Baptist,  or  Congregationalist,  or  Episcopalian.    There 


THE    CHRISTIAN   NAME.  273 

are  others,  however,  to  whom  men  just  as  instinct- 
ively refer,  not  by  the  names  of  their  denominations, 
but  by  that  name  which  is  above  every  other  name, 
the  name  of  Christ  himself.  We  may  well  ask  our- 
selves, brethren,  how  men  refer  to  us;  what  is  most 
prominent  in  our  lives  as  disciples  of  the  Lord.  Do 
men  most  often  take  knowledge  of  us  that  we  have 
been  with  Ilim,  or  that  we  are  most  deeply  inter- 
ested in  the  peculiarities  which,  important  as  we 
believe  them  to  be,  do  still  divide  us  from  our 
brethren  in  Christ? 

So  have  I  tried  to  set  forth  the  meaning  of  the 
Christian  name,  as  made  known  by  the  circumstances 
of  its  bestowment  at  Antioch.  What  a  responsibil- 
ity is  ours  who  bear  it !  What  a  legacy  is  ours ! 
When  we  remember  these  disciples  at  Antioch,  and 
the  faith  and  zeal  and  courage  they  exemplified  in 
their  labors  for  Him  by  whose  name  they  were 
known  among  men,  how  should  we  be  excited  to 
more  devoted  labors  for  Ilim!  To  be  a  Christian 
then,  to  be  known  by  this  name — what  consecration 
it  involved;  what  love,  what  earnestness  in  living, 
what  fearlessness  of  death,  what  hopes  for  the  life 
to  come!  Brethren,  as  we  bear  their  name,  let  us 
seek  grace,  that  we  may  bear  it  not  less  faithfully 
than  they.  It  was  given  to  them  as  a  reproach.  But 
such  was  their  life  that  it  soon  became  honorable. 
It  is  honorable  now.  What  a  responsibility  is  ours ! 
God  forbid  that  any  one  of  us  should  so  wear  it,  as 
to  make  it  in  the  view  of  any  earnest  soul  a  re- 
proach once  more! 

Before  I  conclude,  let  me  say  to  those  before  me, 
who  do  not  bear  this  name,  that  in  calling  you  to 
believe  in  Christ,  we  call  you  to  bear  the  most 
honored  name,  by   which  a  class    of  men  has   ever 


274  SERMONS    ON    THE    CHRISTIAN   LIFE. 

been  known;  a  name,  which,  if  it  suggests  great 
duties  and  sacrifices,  suggests  as  well  high  hopes 
and  eternal  rewards.  But  we  beg  you  to  remem- 
ber, that  it  is  not  only  to  a  name  that  we  call  you; 
but  to  a  union  with  Him  whose  name  is  above 
every  other.  We  call  you  to  become  by  faith  the 
disciples  of  the  Son  of  God,  the  Saviour  of  the 
world;  in  whom  alone  is  eternal  life.  Give  your- 
selves to  Him  in  full  and  unhesitating  trust;  live  in 
confiding  communion  with  Him;  make  Him  your 
all  in  all;  and  the  honor  of  bearing  his  name  here 
will  be  but  the  shadow  of  the  unspeakable  blessed- 
ness, that  shall  be  yours  in  fellowship  with  Him 
for  evermore. 


XVIII. 
CHRISTIANITY  A  RELIGION  OF  JOY. 

"  These  things  have  I  spoken  unto  you,  that  my  joy  might 
remain  in  you,  and  that  your  joy  might  be  full." — John  xv,  11. 

The  last  discourse  of  our  Lord  to  his  disciples 
lacks  the  order  of  a  studied  address.  In  the  free- 
dom of  conversation  with  intimate  friends,  at  the 
table  whereon  is  spread  the  Last  Supper,  He  talks 
of  the  sublime  truths  that  He  came  to  reveal,  the 
merciful  mission  that  He  came  to  fulfill,  and  the 
glorious  triumph  that  He  was  about  to  achieve. 
Wedded,  as  most  of  these  disciples  were,  to  earthly- 
views  of  the  Messiah's  kingdom,  much  that  He 
said  must  at  first  have  shocked  their  feelings  and 
surprised  their  understanding.  For  this  reason,  "He 
repeats  the  same  sentiments  in  order  to  impress 
them  more  deeply  upon  their  unprepared  minds." 
But,  notwithstanding  its  lack  of  order,  the  discourse 
is  unified  by  his  desire,  manifest  in  every  part  of  it,  for 
his  disciples'  release  from  distressing  and  dangerous 
sorrow,  and  their  endowment  with  real  and  perfect 
joy.  The  discourse  begins  with  the  exhortation: 
"  Let  not  your  heart  be  troubled,"  and  closes  with  the 
inspiring  words :  "  Be  of  good  cheer,  I  have   over- 

(275) 


276  SERMONS   ON   THE   CHRISTIAN   LIFE. 

come  the  world."  And  throughout  the  chapters 
which  record  it,  are  promises  of  peace  that  passeth 
knowledge,  of  the  advent  of  a  Divine  Comforter,  of 
the  coming  of  the  Father,  and  of  a  joy  of  which  no 
man  should  rob  them.  That  even  as  He  was  about 
to  enter  on  his  passion  our  Lord  thought  most  lov- 
ingly of  men,  is  thus  made  clear  by  his  words  as 
well  as  by  his  whole  conduct.  And  we,  to-day,  would 
have  known  and  felt  it,  even  if  the  words  of  the 
text  had  been  forgotten  by  his  loving  disciple. 

"  These  things  have  I  spoken  unto  you,  that  my 
joy  might  remain  in  you,  and  that  your  joy  might 
be  full."  In  these  words,  as  you  will  observe,  our 
Saviour  connects  the  joy  of  his  disciples  with  his 
Gospel :  "  These  things  have  I  spoken  unto  you,"  that 
you  may  be  joyful.  He  connects  it  with  Himself — 
"that  my  joy  may  remain  in  you."  He  describes  the 
joy  as  permanent — "that  it  may  remain  in  you." 
And  He  promises  that  it  shall  be  perfect — "that  your 
joy  may  be  full."  You  know  that  there  is  in  many 
a  contrary  impression;  an  undertone  of  feeling  that 
Christianity  is  a  gloomy  religion,  that  Christians  are 
melancholy  in  proportion  to  their  sincerity,  and  that 
the  millennium  itself  will  be  accompanied  by  a  sen- 
sible diminution  of  human  happiness.  I  shall  not 
stop  to  inquire  as  to  the  source  of  this  misconcep- 
tion. A  pleasanter  and  I  believe  a  more  profitable 
task  is  that  of  presenting  the  considerations  which 
show  conclusively  that  this  is  a  misconception ; 
that  if  the  world  ever  shall  achieve  ideal  hap- 
piness, it  will  be  when  Christianity  has  attained  its 
predicted  supremacy,  and  that  if  you,  my  hearers, 
would  know  the  blessedness  of  a  joyful  life,  you  must 
become  one  of  these  disciples  to  whom  the  Lord 
speaks  to-day,  as  He  spoke  to  those  who  ate  with 


CHRISTIANITY   A    RELIGION   OF   JOY.  277 

Him  the  Last  Supper,  saying:  "These  things  have  I 
spoken  unto  you,  that  my  joy  might  remain  in  you, 
and  that  your  joy  might  be  full." 

Christianity,  I  say,  is  a  religion  of  joy.  This  I 
shall  endeavor  to  show,  first  from  its  constitution, 
and,  secondly,  from  its  contents. 

I.  In  considering  the  constitution  of  Christianity — 
that  is  to  say,  the  principles  by  which  as  a  religion 
it  is  organized — let  us  notice,  first,  its  relations  to  the 
idea  of  duty. 

Christianity  is  not  a  system  of  duties  as  many  mis- 
takenly suppose.  The  remarks  of  many  men  when 
invited  to  become  Christians  would  seem  to  indicate 
a  belief  on  their  part,  that  by  becoming  disciples  of 
Jesus  Christ  they  will  assume  new  duties  to  God  and 
to  their  fellow-men ;  that  these  new  duties  will  be  op- 
pressive; and  that  the  Christian,  therefore,  is  exposed 
to  if  he  docs  not  actually  suffer  far  more  and  far 
greater  burdens  than  his  fellow-men.  Now  even  if 
Christianity  were  what  these  men  suppose  it  to  be — 
a  system  of  duties — I  doubt  whether  it  could  be 
charged  with  promoting  the  sorrow  of  humanity. 
For  there  are  few  pleasures  more  keen  and  few  joys 
more  noble  than  those  which  follow  the  recognition 
and  the  performance  of  duty.  But  Christianity  is 
not  a  system  of  duties.  Duty  is  not  distinctively  a 
Christian  word,  just  as  sin  is  not  distinctively  a  Chris- 
tian revelation.  You  do  not  ascertain  that  you  are 
sinners  by  studying  the  declarations  of  the  Bible. 
Neither  do  you  learn  what  duties  you  owe  to  God  or 
man  or  yourself,  by  studying  the  words  of  Christ. 
The  great  duties  of  life  are  revealed  primarily,  not 
by  Christ,  but  by  conscience.  They  are  written  on 
your  hearts.  Christ  neither  increases  nor  diminishes 
their  number.     They  emerge,  not  out  of  your  rela- 


278  SERMONS    ON    THE    CHRISTIAN   LIFE. 

tions  as  members  of  the  Church,  but  out  of  your 
relations  as  members  of  the  human  family.  They 
do  not  begin  to  be  duties  on  the  day  of  your  accept- 
ance of  Christ ;  you  do  not  escape  them  if  you  re- 
fuse to  accept  Him. 

Let  me  appeal  to  the  testimony  of  your  own  hearts. 
What  duty  to  God  or  to  man  or  to  yourself  does 
Christianity  impose,  which  was  not  imposed  before- 
hand by  conscience?  Supreme  love  to  God?  Do  you 
not  owe  it?  Equal  love  to  your  fellow-man,  with 
all  that  it  includes  ?  Who  is  there  among  you,  that 
would  allow  me  to  say  of  him,  that  he  is  less  bound 
than  is  the  best  Christian  to  do  all  in  his  power 
to  promote  the  highest  happiness  of  his  fellow-men? 
"  The  sense  of  duty,"  which  Emanuel  Kant  called 
one  of  the  two  sublime  things  in  the  universe,  is 
an  essential  part  of  human  nature.  It  can  not  be 
destroyed  until  the  human  constitution  is  destroyed. 
Christianity  is  not  responsible  for  it.  But  this  Chris- 
tianity does;  or  this,  let  me  rather  say,  Christ  does. 
He  reawakens  the  dormant  sentiment  of  duty;  He 
inspires  us  to  perform  it;  He  gives  us  divine  aid; 
He  holds  out  to  us  a  good  hope  of  ineffable  reward ; 
so  far  as  we  are  one  with  Him,  we  are  endowed 
wTith  a  boldness  that  enables  us  manfully  to  face 
it;  out  of  his  Word  come  the  mightiest  encourage- 
ments to  its  fulfillment.  And  therefore  if  there  is 
any  happiness  in  manliness,  in  the  destruction  of 
fear,  in  boldness  that  dares  to  look  in  the  face  what- 
ever conscience  commands;  and  if  there  is  any  joy 
in  the  reasonable  hope  that  at  last  we  shall  succeed 
in  the  fulfillment  of  duty  and  be  given  an  eternal  re- 
ward,— so  far  as  its  relations  to  duty  are  concerned, 
Christianity  deserves  to  be  called  by  eminence  a 
religion  of  joy. 


CHRISTIANITY    A    RELIGION    OP   JOT.  279 

Consider,  again,  the  admitted  fact  that  Chris- 
tianity is  silent  on  the  subject  of  amusements.  I 
do  not  say  that  it  forbids  this  amusement  or  that 
amusement.  But  it  provides  none.  This  lack  of 
provision  has  been  made  use  of  for  the  purpose  of 
showing  that  Christianity  is  an  enemy  of  pleasure. 
I  need  not  take  time  to  recall  to  your  recollection 
the  attacks  made  upon  the  Church,  because  she  will 
not  throw  the  weight  of  her  influence  on  the  side  of 
the  amusements  of  the  world.  Every  resource  has 
been  exhausted  to  make  it  appear  that  this  is  clear 
proof  of  the  melancholy  of  religion,  or,  at  least,  of 
evangelical  Christianity.  Who  is  not  familiar  with 
the  caricatures  intended  to  convey  this  impression — 
the  solemn  and  long-faced  preacher  and  the  severe 
and  angular  elder  or  deacon  ?  What  Lord  Macaulay 
said  was  true  of  the  extreme  Puritans  of  the  days  of 
Charles  I.  there  is  a  disposition  to  attribute  to 
Christianity  itself:  "They  hated  bear-baiting,  not 
because  it  gave  pain  to  the  bear,  but  because  it 
gave  pleasure  to  the  spectators."  Were  it  worth 
while  to  do  so,  I  could  show  without  difficulty  that 
there  is  abroad  an  easily  recognized  feeling,  that  in 
order  to  make  good  its  claim  to  be  a  religion  of  joy, 
Christianity  must  either  provide  or  cast  its  lot  in  with 
those  who  do  provide  amusements  for  the  world. 

But  let  me  ask  you  this  question  :  When  you  are 
happy  in  your  home,  when  your  family  relations  re- 
alize the  ideal  that  floated  before  your  mind,  before 
you  had  a  home  of  your  own ;  when  you  can  And 
there  relief  from  the  cares  and  consolation  for  the 
reversals  of  business;  when  conjugal  and  parental 
and  filial  love  unite  heart  to  heart,  increasing  joy 
and  mitigating  sorrow, — what  need  have  you  for 
public    amusements    and   excitements?      You    are  a 


280  SERMONS   ON   THE    CHRISTIAN   LIFE. 

joyful  man  without  them.  These  excitements  are 
for  men  and  women  who  are  not  joyful,  who  have 
no  resources  in  themselves,  that  will  enable  them 
to  rise  above  or  to  drown  the  vexations  of  daily 
life.  I  am  not  declaiming  against  any  set  of  men 
or  any  amusements.  I  am  defending  Christianity. 
And  in  doing  so,  I  say  that  amusements  are  pro- 
vided for  men  and  women  who  need  to  forget  them- 
selves, to  forget  the  present  and  the  future,  in 
order  not  to  be  overcome  by  their  own  wretched- 
ness. In  the  days  of  degenerate  Rome,  when  men 
were  terror-stricken  in  view  of  the  coming  doom; 
when  people  were  looking  forward  to  a  destruction 
which  they  could  not  avert;  when  the  govern- 
ment was  corrupt,  and  one  Ceesar  obtained  the  place 
of  his  predecessor  by  assassination, — how  were  the 
people  held  again  and  again  from  rebellion?  Why, 
new  baths  were  built;  the  spectacles  in  the  Coliseum 
were  multiplied;  military  pageants  were  more  abun- 
dant; new  public  feasts  were  instituted;  and  bread 
and  wine  were  given  to  the  throngs  of  slaves.  Why? 
That  the  sense  of  present  danger  and  the  fear  of  future 
destruction  might  be  drowned  in  the  excitement  of 
the  moment.  Would  you  therefore  call  the  Roman 
populace  a  joyful  people?  My  friends,  at  that  very 
time  there  was  led  to  the  imperial  Capital  a  prisoner, 
to  be  tried  before  Caesar  for  preaching  a  new  relig- 
ion. He  was  permitted  to  preach  it,  attended  by  a 
guard,  while  awaiting  his  trial.  To  this  besotted 
populace  this  preacher  offers  no  amusements;  he 
scarcely  mentions,  except  by  way  of  illustration, 
the-  recreations  of  the  Roman  circus  or  the  Roman 
theater.  lie  does  not  indeed  denounce  them;  but  lie 
speaks  and  writes  as  though  they  were  not.  But  to 
this  Roman  populace  he  offers  a  hope  that  will  ena- 


CHRISTIANITY   A    RELIGION    OF    JOY.  281 

ble  them  to  rejoice  in  present  tribulation,  and  to  face 
without  fear  the  advent  of  death.  He  expounds  to 
them  the  life  and  labors  and  sacrifice  of  a  Redeemer 
in  whom  there  is  no  condemnation,  and  by  whose 
power  all  things  shall  work  together  for  their  good. 
To  this  Gospel,  thus  preached,  certain  servants  in 
the  palace  of  the  Emperor  give  joyful  heed.  I  do 
not  hesitate  to  put  the  joy  of  these  Christian  saints 
in  Cresar's  household  against  the  joy  of  the  populace 
amused  by  Caesar's  shows  and  drunk  with  Csesar's 
wine.  And  yet  we  are  told,  that  Christianity  is  not 
a  religion  of  joy  because  it  does  not  provide  amuse- 
ments for  the  public.  It  is  because  Christianity 
touches  man  at  the  center  of  his  life,  because  it  In- 
vests him  —  so  far  as  it  is  accepted — with  power 
calmly  to  face  all  possible  disasters,  that  it  does  not 
need  to  provide  opiates  with  which  to  dull  man's 
sense  of  sorrow  or  foreboding.  And  because  it  in- 
vests him  with  this  power,  it  has  a  right  to  call  it- 
self by  eminence  a  religion  of  joy. 

Consider  again,  in  its  relation  to  this  subject,  the 
absolute  liberty  with  which  the  Gospel  endows  its  dis- 
ciples. I  have  already  said  that  Christianity  is  not  a 
system  of  duties.  But  I  mean  by  its  liberty  something 
more  than  this.  I  mean  the  perfect  confidence  which  it 
reposes  in  the  individual  Christian.  If  you  contrast  it 
with  all  other  faiths  in  the  world,  you  will  not  fail  to 
notice  the  entire  absence  of  what  I  may  call  ceremonial 
obligations.  Take  any  one  of  these  religions.  Take 
indeed  the  Hebrew  religion  from  which  it  sprang. 
The  Hebrew  was  held  to  his  religion  by  a  detailed 
and  splendid  ritual,  by  a  series  of  minute  regulations, 
by  ablutions  and  fasts  and  feasts  and  sacrifices — all 
carefully  detailed  and  prescribed.  The  old  economy 
was  thus  characterized  by  a  severe  and  continuous 


282  SERMONS    ON    THE    CHRISTIAN    LIFE. 

superintendence  of  the  daily  life  of  the  individual. 
There  is  not  a  position  or  set  of  circumstances  pos- 
sible, for  which  it  does  not  make  detailed  provision. 
It  was  in  this  way  that  the  pious  Jew  was  held  to 
communion  with  God  and  to  preparation  for  death. 
But  of  this  supervision  there  is  an  entire  absence 
in  the  New  Testament.  The  Christian  is  at  liberty. 
He  is  held  to  his  faith  by  no  rules.  He  is  compelled 
to  walk  along  no  narrow  and  prescribed  line.  Nei- 
ther in  work  nor  in  praise  nor  in  prayer,  neither  in 
being  nor  in  doing  does  he  find  himself  fettered  by 
a  single  ceremonial  obligation.  Even  as  regards  the 
Lord's  day  and  the  sacraments,  the  language  of  the 
New  Testament  is  not  so  much  that  of  law,  as  that  of 
loving  appeal.  There  is  no  command  to  do  this  or  to 
forego  that.  The  Son  of  God  has  made  him  a  free 
man ;  and  his  inspired  Apostles  bid  him,  above  all 
things  else,  stand  fast  in  the  liberty  wherewith  Christ 
has  made  him  free.  If  there  is  one  command  in  the 
New  Testament  more  binding  than  another,  it  is  that 
which  forbids  one  Christian  to  judge  another  or  to 
trespass  upon  another's  freedom  in  the  Christian 
life. 

What  is  the  meaning  of  this  large  liberty  of  the 
Christian  disciple?  Why  is  it,  do  you  suppose,  that 
you  and  I  find  ourselves  so  free  in  life  and  labor? 
There  can  be  but  one  answer  to  the  question ;  and 
that  is,  that  the  Gospel  supposes  its  votaries  to  be 
held  to  a  religious  life  by  the  joys  of  religion.  It 
supposes  that  no  rules  are  needed  where  happiness 
so  abounds ;  and  therefore  no  rules  are  prescribed. 
This  is  the  religion  of  the  New  Testament;  and  this 
is  the  power  by  which  it  is  moving  forward  to  its  su- 
premacy in  the  world.  It  regulates,  not  by  the  rules 
which  it  imposes,  but  by  the  joy  which  it  inspires. 


CHRISTIANITY   A   RELIGION    OF   JOY.  283 

It  is  the  only  faith  in  all  the  world — I  will  not  say 
which  has  succeeded  by — but  which  lias  dared  to  at- 
tempt this  method.  And  yet  we  are  told  that  it  is  a 
religion  of  melancholy ;  that  "the  tone  of  its  pulpit  is 
a  whine,  and  that  its  psalm  is  a  miserere."  No  more 
baseless  statement  has  ever  been  uttered.  ISTo  other 
proof  that  it  is  a  religion  of  joy  is  needed  than  this 
liberty  of  the  disciple.  It  succeeds  by  the  reality  and 
the  abundance  of  its  joys;  and  its  mission  can  not 
better  be  described  than  it  is  by  the  statement,  that 
Christ's  joy  may  remain  in  men,  and  that  their  joy 
may  be  full. 

II.  Thus  far,  you  will  observe,  I  have  not  referred 
to  the  contents  of  Christianity.  I  have  spoken  simply 
of  its  constitution,  of  the  principles  of  its  organiza- 
tion. This  examination  shows  us  that  it  must  be  a 
religion  of  joy,  if  it  possesses  any  power.  Our  con- 
fidence in  it  as  a  religion  of  joy  will  be  deepened,  if 
we  advance  to  a  consideration  of  the  fundamental 
sorrow  which  it  removes  and  the  positive  joys  which 
it  inspires.  And  here  I  can  only  touch  a  subject 
on  which  I  might  well  dwell  at  length. 

First,  it  removes  absolutely  the  sorrow  of  the  sense 
of  guilt.  The  sense  of  guilt  is  an  ultimate  fact  of 
human  consciousness.  Every  thing  has  been  done 
to  explain  it  away;  but  there  it  remains.  The  awful 
shade,  like  the  ghost  of  Banquo,  will  not  down  at 
human  bidding.  There  it  abides,  the  darkest  shadow 
on  the  horizon  of  human  consciousness,  and  awaken- 
ing the  most  poignant  agony  that  the  human  spirit 
can  feel.  "  I  am  guilty  before  God.  How  dare  I  meet 
Him  face  to  face,  whom  face  to  face  I  must  behold ! " 
This  has  been  the  cry  of  man  in  all  ages  and  places. 
This  it  is  that  makes  remorse  possible  and  that  makes 
death  terrible.     No  other  sorrow  is  like  this  sorrow; 


284  SERMONS   ON   TIIE    CHRISTIAN   LIFE. 

for  it  is  sorrow  without  hope.  Now  what  but  a  relig- 
ion of  joy  shall  we  call  that  religion,  which  can  drive 
away  this  terrible  specter  and  calm  the  agitation  of 
the  human  spirit?  What,  to  such  a  joy,  are  all  the 
amusements  and  excitements,  all  the  anodynes  and 
recreations  of  the  world?  Show  me  a  faith  that  will 
enable  me  to  stand  fearlessly  before  the  living  and 
the  holy  God,  and  I  will  show  you  a  religion  whose 
joy  remains  and  whose  joys  are  full.  But  is  not 
this  the  characteristic  triumph  of  the  Gospel  ?  What 
else  but  this  victory  is  celebrated  in  the  joyful  cry 
of  the  Apostle:  "There  is,  therefore,  now  no  con- 
demnation to  them  who  are  in  Christ  Jesus;  who 
are  sons  of  God,  and  heirs  of  God;  whom  nothing 
shall  separate  from  his  love"?  And  has  it  not  proved 
in  all  its  history  its  possession  of  power  adequate  to 
destroy  this  sense  of  guilt? 

Next  to  the  remorse  that  springs  from  a  sense  of 
guilt,  the  keenest  agony  of  man  is  despair  as  to  re- 
moval of  sin.  Man  sees  the  perfect  holiness  in  the 
distance,  and  though  it  attracts  him  by  its  beauty  and 
invites  him  to  accept  its  benediction,  he  knows  he  can 
not  attain  it.  He  is  in  despair ;  and  all  the  voices 
in  the  universe,  save  that  of  Christianity,  bid  him 
despair;  and  thus  in  desperation  he  rushes  headlong 
into  new  sin.  O  friends!  how  many  men,  how  many 
women  have  ruined  themselves  through  despair! 
How  often  has  the  drunkard  sought  again  his  cups 
with  the  cry  on  his  lips:  "I  can  not  rise  to  a  better 
life ;  therefore  let  me  drown  my  griefs  "  !  How  often 
has  the  abandoned  woman  rushed  back  to  unlawful 
life  through  dread  of  almost  certain  failure  to  reform! 
Now  am  I  not  justified  in  describing  that  as  a  re- 
ligion of  joy,  which  is  the  only  power  in  the  world 
that  gives  man   good  hope  that  he  shall  one  day 


CHRISTIANITY   A    RELIGION    OF   JOY.  285 

overcome,  not  this  vice  or  that  vice  alone,  but  all  sin ; 
and  shall  stand  complete  in  the  beauty  of  holiness 
before  God?  And  where  is  this  power  to  be  found, 
but  in  the  religion  of  Jesus  Christ  which  we  are 
called  so  often  to  defend  against  the  charge  of  being 
a  religion  of  melancholy! 

More  than  this,  you  know  how  large  a  proportion 
of  the  sorrow  of  life  springs  from  untoward  and  pain- 
ful events.  Who  can  number  them  ?  The  little  vex- 
ations of  daily  life;  the  harassments  of  business;  the 
disappointments  of  friendship;  the  hopes  deferred 
that  make  the  heart  sick ;  the  accidents  and  the  dis- 
eases of  life;  the  burdens  of  manhood;  the  weariness 
of  age,  when  the  grasshopper  becomes  a  burden  and 
fears  are  in  the  way!  Then  the  great  afflictions  that 
lie  like  mountains  on  the  sinking  heart;  as  the  awful 
sweep  from  wealth  to  poverty,  or  the  sudden  advent 
of  death  into  the  family!  But  why  need  I  go  on? 
"  Man  is  born  to  trouble,  as  the  sparks  to  fly  upward." 
Now,  I  appeal  to  you,  what  but  a  religion  of  joy — 
of  joy  that  remains,  and  of  joy  that  is  full — shall  that 
religion  be  called,  which  can  rationally  assure  the 
victim  of  these  sorrows  that  they  shall  issue  in  a, 
higher  blessedness;  that  these  are  not  his  enemies 
but  his  friends,  working  for  him  a  far  more  exceeding 
weight  of  glory?  And  is  not  just  this  the  rational 
assurance  of  the  Gospel  of  Christ?  Is  not  the  Gos- 
pel the  only  sufficient  prediction  to  the  world  that 
every  loss  shall  be  a  gain,  and  every  woe  the  minis- 
ter of  a  higher  joy  to  those  who  trust  through 
Christ  in  God  ? 

Nor  is  this  all.  "Who  does  not  know,  that  deep  in 
human  nature  is  an  abiding  sorrow,  growing  out 
of  the  feeling  that  man  can  not  commune  with 
God;  that  the  Creator  and  Father  of  all,  hides  Him- 


286  SERMONS    ON    THE    CHRISTIAN   LIFE. 

self  from  his  children  ?  Could  they  only  meet  Him 
and  commune  with  Him,  believing  that  He  wears 
the  loving  aspect  of  a  parent,  and  assured  that  his 
heart  beats  with  sympathy  and  love !  Nature  does 
not  intimate  the  possibility  of  this  communion,  or 
the  fact  of  this  parental  relation  and  regard.  If  this 
is  so,  shall  I  hesitate  to  call  that  a  religion  of  joy 
which  reveals  to  us  his  nearness;  and  bids  us,  sinners 
as  we  are,  go  boldly  to  Him  and  call  Him,  "Our 
Father  which  art  in  heaven"? 

Again,  the  inability  to  do  good  in  this  world  of 
evil — to  overcome  the  woe  and  the  wretchedness  of 
humanity — is  an  awful  sorrow  whenever  it  is  felt.  Is 
not  that  a  religion  of  joy,  then,  which  bids  me  plow 
and  sow  for  men  in  hope,  which  assures  me  that 
1  am  a  co-worker  with  God  and  that  no  labor  can 
be  in  vain  in  the  Lord !  And,  finally,  the  darkness 
and  mystery  and  solitude,  that  lie  on  the  borders  of 
this  world,  beget  a  terror,  which  all  know  who  dare  to 
contemplate  death  as  the  ushering  of  the  spirit  into 
another  world.  And  what  but  a  religion  of  unutterable 
joy  shall  I  call  that,  which  dissipates  the  mystery,  and 
destroys  the  terror,  and  relieves  the  solitude  of  death ; 
and  illumines  the  dark  under-world  with  the  vision  of 
a  joy  unspeakable  and  full  of  glory? 

"These  things,"  said  Christ,  "have  I  spoken  unto 
you,  that  my  joy  might  remain  with  you,  and  that 
your  joy  might  be  full."  And  is  not  the  joy  that 
springs  from  his  Gospel  abiding  and  perfect?  Those 
who  have  brought  against  Christianity  the  charge 
against  which  I  have  been  contending,  and  those  who 
cherish  the  suspicion  which  I  have  attempted  to  de- 
stroy, do  not  possess  either  a  true  conception  of 
Christianity  or  a  true  conception  of  human  happi- 
ness.    I  am  indulging  in  no  mere  declamation,  but 


CHRISTIANITY    A    RELIGION    OF   JOY.  287 

am  giving  utterance  to  words  of  soberness  when  I 
say,  that  you  will  never  learn  what  joy  is  until  in 
simple  faith  and  penitence  you  become  a  disciple  of 
Christ.  The  joy  that  is  in  Him  and  from  Him  is 
the  only  joy  that  remains,  and  the  only  joy  that  is 
full. 

There  are  two  or  three  inferences  from  this  sub- 
ject that  I  wish  to  press  upon  your  attention.  And 
first,  Christian  friends,  if  you  are  not  joyful  Chris- 
tians, it  is  not  the  fault  of  the  Gospel.  If  your  lives 
are,  in  any  true  sense  of  the  word,  miserable,  it  is 
because  there  is  some  fault  in  your  acceptance  of 
the  Gospel.  I  beg  you  to  reflect  on  this  statement. 
It  is  not  your  temperament  that  is  at  fault.  The  Gos- 
pel was  not  meant  for  this  temperament  or  for  that 
temperament,  but  for  all  mankind.  It  is  not  your 
adverse  circumstances  that  are  at  fault.  Like  the 
stanch  vessel  that  was  built,  not  only  for  fair  weather 
and  for  smooth  seas,  but  to  ride  the  tumult  of  the 
waves  and  to  sail  through  the  storm,  the  Gospel  of 
God's  grace  was  given  us,  not  for  health  and  wealth 
alone,  but  for  days  of  sickness  and  poverty  and  afflic- 
tion, and  for  the  day  of  death.  If  we  are  not  supe- 
rior to  them  all  and  joyful  in  them  all,  the  fault 
is  in  our  lack  of  faith.  We  do  not  believe  the 
things,  which  Christ  has  spoken  in  order  that  his 
joy  may  remain  in  us,  and  that  our  joy  may  be 
full. 

The  subject  teaches  us  what  is  the  spirit  in  which 
we  should  preach  and  live  the  Gospel  that  we  profess 
to  believe.  It  is  not  a  sorrowful  message  that  the 
Gospel  announces.  It  is  glad  tidings  of  great  joy. 
Nature  and  sickness  and  sin  and  death  are  sorrowful; 
but  not  the  Gospel  of  forgiven  sin,  of  God's  father- 
hood, of  conquered  death  and  of  an  opened  heaven. 


288  SERMONS    ON    THE    CHRISTIAN   LIFE. 

And  therefore  the  Gospel  should  be  proclaimed  with 
joy.  So  it  must  he  proclaimed  by  us,  if  we  would 
win  souls.  And  so  must  we  live  it,  if  we  would 
have  men  led  by  the  light  of  our  lives  to  Him  who 
is  the  Life  and  Light  of  men. 

So  would  I  preach  it  now  to  you,  0  men  and 
women,  who  thus  far  have  refused  to  accept  the  Gos- 
pel and  the  Saviour  whom  it  reveals.  I  need  not  tell 
you — for  you  know  too  well  already — that  from  no 
other  source  can  you  obtain  this  real,  this  abiding, 
this  interior  and  strengthening  joy  of  which  I  have 
spoken.  I  bid  you  recall  the  mission  of  Christ  as 
He  himself  describes  it.  He  came  that  your  joy 
might  remain  and  that  your  joy  might  be  full.  I  will 
not  say,  you  must  be  born  again.  Alas !  your  own 
ineffective  struggles  too  well  attest  your  need  of  a  new 
life.  But  I  will  say  that  in  Him  you  can  be  born 
again — born  to  a  life,  whose  present  peace  nothing 
on  earth  can  destroy,  and  whose  eternal  and  unim- 
agined  joy  nothing  in  heaven  or  in  hell  shall  disturb. 
This  is  the  promise  of  Christ.  This  is  the  joy  that 
He  offers  you.  Listen  to  Him  and  come  to  Him  and 
rest  in  Him,  as  from  his  gracious  lips  fall  the  words, 
and  from  the  gracious  Spirit  proceeds  the  almighty 
power,  by  which  alone  your  spirit's  joy  shall  con- 
quer all  sorrow  here,  and  shall  become  hereafter,  in 
the  presence  of  God,  fullness  of  joy  and  pleasure 
for  evermore. 


XIX. 
KEEPING  IN  THE  LOVE  OF  GOD. 

"  But  ye,  beloved,  building  up  yourselves  on  your  most  holy 
faith,  praying  in  the  Holy  Ghost,  keep  yourselves  in  the  love 
of  God,  looking  for  the  mercy  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  unto 
eternal  life." — Jude  20,  21. 

There  are  statements  in  the  New  Testament,  which, 
taken  by  themselves,  leave  the  impression  that  in  the 
work  of  sanctification  the  Christian  is  simply  passive 
and  recipient,  and  God  alone  is  active.  We  are  told 
that  we  are  kept  by  the  power  of  God;  that  we  are 
saved  by  the  grace  of  God;  that  faith  itself  is  his 
gift;  that  it  is  God  who  calls,  who  regenerates,  who 
justifies  and  who  at  last  glorifies  the  children  of 
men.  On  the  other  hand,  there  are  exhortations  to 
activity  addressed  to  Christians  which  seem  to  pro- 
ceed upon  the  supposition  that  the  disciple  alone 
is  active;  or,  at  least,  that  the  utmost  done  by  God 
is  to  appoint  for  his  people  favorable  conditions  in 
which  to  become  perfect  as  He  is  perfect.  I  shall 
not  stop  to  show  the  harmony  between  the  two 
classes  of  passages.  Let  me  say,  that  it  is  not 
our  business  to  perplex  ourselves  with  the  seeming 
contradiction,  but    rather    to    rejoice    in    the    truth 

(289) 


290  SERMONS    ON    THE    CHRISTIAN    LIFE. 

that  both  God  and  ourselves,  if  we  are  faithful,  are 
active  in  the  work  of  our  redemption;  that  while 
we  are  working  out  our  salvation  with  fear  and  trem- 
bling, we  are  not  alone;  for  God  is  working  within 
us  to  will  and  to  do  of  his  good  pleasure. 

Whenever  a  passage  of  the  latter  class  is  found  in 
the  Epistles;  whenever  an  exhortation  is  addressed 
to  Christians  which  seems  to  devolve  the  whole  re- 
sponsibility of  their  redemption  upon  themselves,  we 
find  associated  with  the  exhortation,  and  often  as  a 
a  part  of  it,  a  distinct  reference  to  the  means  and 
agencies  which  they  are  to  employ.  "When  the  duty 
is  stated,  the  method  of  its  fulfillment  is  brought 
clearly  into  view.  We  have  an  illustration  of  this 
in  the  words  which  I  have  chosen  as  my  text.  In 
language  as  vivid  and  vigorous  as  any  to  be  found 
in  the  New  Testament,  Jude  describes  those  who 
have  turned  the  grace  of  God  into  licentiousness, 
who  have  made  shipwreck  of  their  faith.  He  depicts 
their  character  in  terms  that  must  have  enabled  the 
true  disciple  to  detect  these  spots  in  their  love  feasts, 
and  prophesies  their  destiny  in  the  bold  and  striking 
metaphor;  they  are  wandering  stars  for  whom  the 
blackness  of  darkness  is  reserved.  From  these  he 
turns  to  the  Christians  to  whom  he  is  writing  with 
an  exhortation,  in  obedience  to  which  they  would 
find  their  rescue  from  this  awful  life  and  condemna- 
tion;  and  while  exhorting  them  he  states  the  method 
to  be  pursued  in  obeying  the  exhortation. 

I  shall  not  endeavor  to  show  that  the  surround- 
ings of  Christians  when  this  Epistle  was  written, 
were  similar  to  our  own;  or  that  we  have  here  a 
prophecy  of  the  days  in  which  we  live.  I  simply 
insist  that  as  our  work  is  the  same  as  theirs,  as  our 
aim  is  one  with  theirs,  and  as  the  same  reward  is 


KEEPING   IN    THE    LOVE    OF    GOD.  291 

to  compensate  us  that  compensated  them,  we  may 
consider  these  words  as  though  primarily  written 
to  us.  The  injunction  is  quite  as  appropriate  to  our 
circumstances  as  to  theirs.  The  words  of  the  text, 
therefore,  are  the  words  of  God,  addressed  to  you 
and  me,  and  they  should  come  to  us  with  all  the 
urgency  with  which  they  fell  on  the  ears  of  the  prim- 
itive disciples  who  first  heard  them :  "  But  ye,  be- 
loved, building  yourselves  up  on  your  most  holy 
faith,  praying  in  the  Holy  Ghost,  keep  yourselves 
in  the  love  of  God,  looking  for  the  mercy  of  Jesus 
Christ  unto  life  eternal." 

I  shall  speak,  first,  of  the  great  duty  to  which  we 
are  here  exhorted, — we  are  to  "keep  ourselves  in  the 
love  of  God;"  and,  secondly,  of  the  aids  which  are 
furnished  us,  or  the  means  we  are  to  use, — we  are 
to  keep  ourselves  in  the  love  of  God,  by  "building 
ourselves  up  on  our  most  holy  faith;"  by  praying 
in  the  Holy  Ghost;"  and  by  "looking  for  the  mercy 
of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  unto  life  eternal." 

I.  And  first,  let  us  study  the  duty  to  which  we 
are  here  called.  "  Keep  yourselves  in  the  love  of 
God."  This  does  not  mean,  "Keep  ourselves  lov- 
ing God."  It  is  not  our  affection  for  our  Father 
in  heaven  to  which  the  writer  refers;  it  is  the 
amazing,  the  infinite,  the  enduring,  the  individual- 
izing love  of  God  for  us.  As  thus  understood,  it  is 
obvious  that  the  exhortation  is  not,  "  See  to  it  that 
God  loves  you."  That  would  be  little  short  of  im- 
piety. God  has  charge  of  his  own  affection.  It  rests 
upon  all  who  trust  Him ;  and  neither  death,  nor  life, 
nor  angels,  nor  principalities  can  separate  them  from 
his  love.  God's  love  goes  forth  from  Him  as  the  light 
and  heat  go  forth  from  the  sun,  without  waning  and 
without  intermission.     But  often  between  the  earth 


292  SERMONS    ON    THE    CHRISTIAN   LIFE. 

and  the  orb  which  warms  and  illumines  it  clouds 
intervene,  and  the  earth,  so  to  speak,  becomes  uncon- 
scious of  the  sun's  light  and  heat.  In  the  same  way, 
between  the  Christian  and  his  Father  in  heaven,  mists 
born  of  the  Christian's  life  often  arise  and  hide  the 
Father's  face;  the  disciple,  unconscious  of  the  love  of 
God,  grows  cold,  and  graces  droop,  and  Christian 
character  is  weakened  and  distorted.  So  common  is 
this  experience  that  all  of  us,  doubtless,  will  acknowl- 
edge the  need  of  this  exhortation,  and  of  its  contin- 
ual iteration :  "  Let  nothing  intervene  to  hide  from 
you  the  face  of  your  Father  in  heaven.  See  to  it 
that  you  do  not  lose  your  consciousness  of  his  affec- 
tion for  you.  Keep  yourselves,  beloved,  in  the  love 
of  God." 

You  shall  see,  if  you  will  think  of  it  for  a  moment, 
the  propriety  of  the  language  in  which  the  exhorta- 
tion is  clothed.  What  is  the  great  revelation  of 
the  Gospel,  but  the  revelation  of  the  love  of  God 
for  individual  and  sinful  men  and  women?  This 
is  the  glad  tidings  of  great  joy.  Outside  of  the 
Gospel,  there  is  not  the  slightest  hint  that  any  thing 
properly  to  be  termed  love  for  men  exists  in  God.  If 
I  question  nature  in  any  of  its  aspects  as  to  the  ex- 
istence of  this  affection,  I  obtain  no  hopeful  re- 
sponse. The  most  that  nature  tells  me  is  that  the 
procedure  of  the  Governor  of  the  universe  is  deter- 
mined by  laws,  which  were  ordained  in  infinite  wis- 
dom and  in  infinite  goodness,  and  which  are  exe- 
cuted by  omnipotence  with  unerring  precision.  It 
assures  me  that,  on  the  whole,  the  result  of  their  ex- 
ecution is  happiness,  and  that  certainly  wherever  the 
beings  under  them  are  obedient,  their  bliss  and 
harmony  are  perfect.  This  is  the  whole  of  the  love 
of  God    that   nature   reveals   or  can    reveal.      And 


KEEPING   IN    THE    LOVE    OF    GOD.  293 

when  I  go  to  nature  with  the  confession,  that  I  have 
violated  God's  law;  when  I  cry  out  of  my  sinfulness 
and  misery:  "I  have  sinned  against  heaven,  and  in 
the  sight  of  God ;  has  He  any  love  for  me,  will  He 
forgive  my  sin,  will  He  avert  the  destruction  which  I 
have  brought  upon  myself?"  nature  can  make  no 
other  reply  than  "  The  soul  that  sinneth  it  shall  die." 
If  God  has  any  affection  for  sinners,  or  entertains  the 
purpose  of  releasing  them  from  the  condemnation 
in  which  they  have  involved  themselves,  nature 
knows  nothing  of  it;  she  has  no  revelation  to  make, 
and  she  makes  none.  So  far  as  her  voice  is  con- 
cerned, man  is  without  help  and  without  hope,  and 
so  must  remain  forever. 

Now  if  the  Church  has  correctly  interpreted  the 
Gospel  of  Christ,  the  Gospel  means  that  the  revela- 
tion which  nature  has  not  made  has  been  made  in 
another  way.  The  Gospel  is  thus  a  voice  from  heaven 
assuring  us  that  God  is  love,  and  loves  sinners;  that 
the  God  who  is  a  lawgiver  is  also  a  Father ;  that  though 
we  are  sinners,  in  Jesus  Christ  we  are  God's  children, 
and  his  love  is  ever  active  in  our  behalf;  that  noth- 
ing can  harm  us,  and  nothing  will ;  that  no  labor  of 
ours  can  be  in  vain ;  that  no  experience  of  ours  can  fail 
to  minister  to  our  highest  well-being;  that  the  Son  of 
God  is  head  over  all  things  to  his  people,  and  will 
make  all  work  together  for  their  good.  This  is  the 
truth  on  which  the  exhortation  is  based.  So  Jude 
writes  to  the  Christians  of  the  Apostolic  Church : 
"  Never  let  your  perception  of  this  great  revelation  be 
clouded.  Never  permit  the  consciousness  of  God's  af- 
fection to  be  other  than  vivid.  Carry  it  with  you  every- 
where. See  that  nothing  weakens  or  disturbs  it.  It  is 
the  great  revelation  of  the  Gospel.  Losing  your  hold 
on  this  truth,  you  lose  the  one  sure  anchorage  of  your 


294  SERMONS    ON    THE    CHRISTIAN    LIFE. 

soul.  Without  it  you  must  make  shipwreck  of  every 
noble  hope.  Hold  fast  by  it,  therefore,  beloved. 
Keep  yourselves  in  the  love  of  God."  This  is  the 
meaning  and  force  of  the  text;  and  so  absolutely 
necessary  to  the  Christian's  peace  does  the  habit 
which  it  contemplates  reveal  itself  to  be,  that  one 
wonders  that  auy  necessity  for  the  appeal  should 
ever  have  existed.  Having  once  accepted  the  truth, 
having  once  had  this  love  of  God  shed  abroad  in 
the  heart,  it  would  seem  that  we  could  never  lose 
the  thought  of  it,  that  it  would  be  our  contempla- 
tion all  the  day  long,  that  the  sense  of  it  would  make 
every  hour  an  hour  of  prayer,  and  transmute  every 
act  into  an  act  of  praise. 

But  is  this  the  case  with  us,  brethren?  Is  it  true 
that  we  obey  the  exhortation  ?  Is  it  not  rather  true 
that  it  has  become  largely  a  dead  letter  to  us  ?  Do 
we  not  make  nearly  every  act  and  habit  of  our 
lives  an  obstacle  in  the  way  of  obeying  it,  instead 
of  an  occasion  to  bring  it  to  our  remembrance  ?  One 
would  suppose,  for  example,  that  the  cares  and 
engrossments  of  business  would  lead  a  Christian  to 
hold  the  love  of  God  for  him  in  clear  and  constant 
view.  For  the  worry  and  harassment  of  business 
life,  what  effective  antidote  is  there  save  the  con- 
sciousness of  the  divine  affection  which  appoints 
our  duties  and  fixes  our  circumstances,  and  which 
will  one  day  make  plain  that  they  are  the  best  that 
could  have  been  appointed?  If  you  were  accustomed 
to  go  to  your  counting-rooms  and  shops  and  offices 
with  the  consciousness  of  the  love  of  God  for  you 
dominating  all  thoughts  and  feeling,  how  less  than 
now  would  losses  seem;  how  far  brighter  would  all 
times  look ;  with  how  much  more  zest  would  you  live 
your  daily  business  lives !     If  toil  would  be  no  less 


KEEPING   IN   THE    LOVE    OF    GOD.  295 

severe,  care  would  be  less  wearing ;  and  if  losses  would 
be  as  frequent,  your  spirits  would  never  break  beneath 
the  load  of  them.  And  have  we  not  a  right  to  expect, 
that  this  consciousness  of  God's  love  will  be  perma- 
nent and  influential  in  a  Christian's  life?  Have  I 
not  a  right  to  prophesy,  that  the  cares  of  business 
will  render  it  more  distinct;  that  they  will  become 
the  occasion  of  its  more  vigorous  life?  But  what 
is  the  fact?  Is  it  not  that  these  cares  and  labors 
become  obstacles  to  faith  in  the  divine  affection  ? 
Instead  of  bringing  God's  love  before  us,  they  tempt 
us  to  forget  or  to  ignore  it;  and  thus  life  becomes 
more  earthly,  and  we  are  surprised  by  our  own 
doubts  of  the  love's  reality.  Hence,  I  say,  the  need 
of  the  exhortation,  and  its  constant  and  forceful 
repetition :  "  Keep  yourselves  in  the  love  of  God." 

So  is  it  also  with  the  allurements  of  pleasure.  To 
a  Christian,  one  would  suppose  that  all  sources  of 
enjoyment  would  appear  more  blessed  because  of 
this  new  revelation  of  God's  love  for  him;  and 
that,  thus  sanctified,  they  would  become  means  of 
grace  as  real  as  the  Church,  the  Word  and  the  Sac- 
raments. Am  I  a  child  of  God,  and  does  He  love 
me?  Then  every  pleasure  should  appear  as  the  fruit 
of  his  affection;  every  appetite  which  finds  gratifi- 
cation in  the  world  He  has  created,  every  capacity 
which  is  ministered  to  by  the  forms  of  beauty  and 
sublimity  which  He  has  spoken  into  being,  every 
association  with  my  fellows  out  of  which  springs 
happiness,  ought  at  once  to  connect  themselves  in 
my  mind  with  the  divine  love  which  has  so  enriched 
my  life.  But  is  this  the  fact?  What  is  the  tempta- 
tion when  pleasure  allures  but  to  sink  the  thought 
of  God  below  the  thought  of  the  pleasure  itself;  to 
run  riot,  to  become  the  slaves  of  appetite  ?    So  hap- 


296  SERMONS    ON   THE   CHRISTIAN    LIFE. 

piness  tends  to  become  unsanctified ;  so  pleasure 
grows  more  sensual,  and  thought  and  life  become 
defiled.  Who  does  not  see  that  we  need  to  hear 
again  and  again  the  voice  of  the  Spirit,  calling  us 
to  "keep  ourselves  in  the  love  of  God"? 

So,  did  time  permit,  I  might  speak  of  affliction ;  of 
intellectual  engagements;  of  the  entire  earthly  life 
of  man.  Did  we  not  know  what  the  fact  is,  we  should 
prophesy  with  confidence  that  this  great  revelation 
of  God's  love  having  once  been  made  and  having 
been  once  a  possession,  Ave  could  give  ourselves  to 
no  engagement  that  would  not  make  the  revelation 
appear  more  valuable,  and  the  conseiousness  of  the 
love  of  God  a  greater  and  more  blessed  power.  Is 
the  malign  influence  of  indwelling  sin  more  horridly 
conspicuous  anywhere  than  it  is  in  the  lives  of  Chris- 
tians, when,  as  we  know  it  does,  it  changes  these 
occasions  of  bringing  the  love  of  God  more  clearly 
before  us,  into  clouds  that  hide  it  from  our  sight? 
Do  you  wonder  that  the  New  Testament  is  full  of 
calls  to  vigilance,  that  it  breathes  the  spirit  of  a 
solemn  and  a  real  fear  that  we  shall  lose  this  price- 
less possession?  Need  you  be  surprised  that  the 
exhortations  most  often  uttered  from  the  pulpit  to 
Christians  have  just  the  force  and  meaning  of  the 
text:  "Keep  j^ourselves  in  the  love  of  God"? 

If  you  would  know  the  importance  of  these  words 
of  Jude,  ask  yourselves  what  your  lives  would  be, 
if  there  were  no  love  of  God  in  which  to  keep  your- 
selves. Suppose  this  revelation  blotted  out.  Sup- 
pose this  Christian  consciousness  lost.  Suppose  that 
every  loss  in  business,  that  every  sickness  which 
weakens  you,  that  every  death  of  a  friend  could  be 
explained  only  as  the  precursor  of  that  to  which  all 
material  things  seem  tending;  remediless  disaster — 


KEEPING    IN   THE    LOVE    OF   GOD.  297 

What  would  bo  their  influence  upon  you  ?  Could  your 
character  endure?  In  the  absence  of  this  revelation, 
could  you  maintain  your  purity  and  integrity  ?  I  hope 
I  do  my  race  no  wrong.  But  if  history  teaches  one 
truth  more  plainly  than  another,  it  is  the  truth  that  in 
the  absence  of  hope  for  the  future  life  men  sink  at 
last  almost  to  the  level  of  brutes ;  they  fight  with  each 
other;  they  grasp  at  the  lowest  pleasures;  they  cry: 
"  There  is  no  help,  no  hope;  let  us  eat  and  drink,  for 
to-morrow  we  die."  Or  let  us  reverse  the  supposi- 
tion ;  let  us  suppose  this  consciousness  of  the  love  of 
God  to  be  now,  what  one  clay  it  shall  become,  perma- 
nent and  uniform  and  universal — regnant  in  all  the 
world,  and  in  the  whole  of  life.  What  event,  in  that 
case,  could  occur  which  it  would  not  make  a  minister 
of  grace?  What  circumstances  could  surround  us, 
which  it  would  not  transfigure  into  aids  to  holiness? 
I  do  not  know  that,  as  a  minister  of  the  Gospel, 
I  could  repeat  a  more  needed  exhortation  than  this 
of  Jude:  "But,  ye  beloved,  keep  "yourselves  in  the 
love  of  God."  If  you  who  are  Christian  teachers 
could  carry  the  consciousness  of  this  love  to  your 
scholars,  with  what  power  and  unction  would  you 
tell  the  story  of  the  sacrifice  of  the  Son  of  God!  If 
I,  as  a  preacher,  could  always  be  constrained  by  it 
in  preaching,  how  soon  would  the  Gospel  prove 
itself  here  to  be  the  power  of  God  unto  salvation ! 
If  this  whole  congregation  were  strong  in  the  con- 
viction of  it,  and  uplifted  by  the  constaut  realization 
of  it,  how  soon  would  worship  be  adorned  with  the 
beauty  of  holiness,  and  gifts  be  multiplied,  and  self- 
sacrifice  for  men's  highest  well-being  become  like 
the  sacrifice  of  Christ  himself!  I  bring  to  you, 
therefore,  Christian  friends,  this  urgent  exhortation. 
Let  nothing  rob  you  of  the  conviction,  let  nothing 


298  SERMONS    ON    THE    CHRISTIAN   LIFE. 

dim  within  you  the  consciousness,  let  no  experience 
weaken  your  sense  of  your  heavenly  Father's  affec- 
tion for  you.  It  is  infinite  as  his  own  being.  It 
rests  not  on  men  as  a  class,  but  on  each  one  of  you 
as  individuals.  It  is  mightier  than  angels,  or  afflic- 
tion or  death.  It  is  enduring  as  eternity.  See  to  it 
that  it  is  ever  shed  abroad  in  your  hearts.  Keep 
yourselves,  beloved,  in  the  love  of  God. 

II.  At  this  point  the  question  may  well  be  asked : 
"But  how  shall  I  obey  the  injunction?  If  the  diffi- 
culties are  so  many  and  so  mighty,  if  the  very 
occasions  which  should  bring  it  into  clear  view  be- 
come obstacles  to  its  remembrance,  what  am  I  to 
do  but  resign  myself  to  their  baleful  power?  Are 
there  no  helps  to  obedience;  no  methods  in  adopt- 
ing and  pursuing  which  I  shall  be  able  to  keep  my- 
self in  the  love  of  God  ? "  The  text  clearly  answers 
this  question.  "We  have  here  presented  the  three 
great  aids  which  God  offers  all  men  who  would  keep 
themselves  in  his  love.  These  are,  first,  spiritual 
nourishment; — "  Building  up  yourselves  on  your  most 
holy  faith";  secondly,  worship; — "Praying  in  the 
Holy  Ghost " ;  and,  finally,  contemplation  of  the  end 
of  our  Christian  course; — "Looking  for  the  mercy  of 
our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  unto  eternal  life."  No  Chris- 
tian man  or  woman,  who  shall  faithfully  and  rely- 
ing upon  God  make  diligent  use  of  these  means  of 
grace,  will  fail  to  keep  himself  in  the  love  of  God. 

Let  us  dwell  briefly  upon  each  of  these  aids.  The 
first  is  spiritual  nourishment; — "Building  up  your- 
selves on  your  most  holy  faith." 

The  metaphor  is  drawn  not  from  the  erection  of 
an  edifice,  but  from  the  life  of  the  body.  "We  are 
to  build  up  ourselves  on  appropriate  food,  and  by 
appropriate  exercise.     We  shall  not  be  able  to  keep 


KEEPING   IN    THE    LOVE    OF    GOD.  299 

ourselves  in  the  love  of  God,  unless  we  nourish  our- 
selves with  the  bread  which  God  has  given  us,  and 
by  the  activity  which  lie  appoints.  This  bread  and 
this  activity  are  designated  by  the  comprehensive 
phrase — "your  most  holy  faith."  The  word  faith  is 
employed  in  the  sense  of  "that  which  is  believed  and 
accepted."  So  that  the  exhortation  up  to  this  point 
may  be  paraphrased  as  follows:  "If  you  would  keep 
undimmed  your  consciousness  of  your  heavenly 
Father's  affection,  see  to  it  that  you  regularly  feed 
your  soul  upon  the  Bible,  and  then  engage  in  the 
religious  activity  which  that  Bible  commands.  Make 
the  Word  of  God  the  theme  of  contemplation,  and 
the  manual  of  your  active  career,  and  the  clouds 
that  hide  your  Father's  face  will  soon  be  dissipated." 
Here  we  touch  the  secret  of  both  the  world's  skep- 
ticism and  the  individual  disciple's  gloom  and  weak- 
ness. I  desire  to  give  distinct  expression  to  my 
profound  conviction,  that  the  popular  infidelity  of 
which  we  hear  so  much  is  the  product,  not  of 
knowledge,  but  of  ignorance.  Men  doubt  God  be- 
cause they  do  not  know  Him.  They  disbelieve  the 
Scriptures  because  they  have  not  studied  them.  Did 
they  come  to  them  with  the  reverence  and  the  do- 
cility which  their  antiquity  and  their  historical  influ- 
ence in  the  world  ought  to  inspire,  and  earnestly 
study  them,  doubt  not  that  much  of  the  popular 
criticism  and  denial  of  the  day  would  disappear,  and 
the  Bible  would  authenticate  itself,  as  the  special 
revelation  of  the  love  of  God  to  sinful  and  dying 
men. 

But  I  am  addressing  believers,  not  skeptics;  and  I 
appeal  to  your  own  Christian  experience.  You  com- 
plain that  the  things  of  the  world  obscure  your  vision 
of  the  love  of  God;  that  the  affection  of  God  for  you 


300  SERMONS    ON    THE   CHRISTIAN   LIFE. 

is  not  the  mighty  power  in  your  career  which  you 
had  been  led  to  believe  it  would  be — and  you  ask  the 
reason.  Let  me  reply  by  asking  another  question :  Are 
you  building  up  yourselves  upon  your  most  holy  faith  ? 
Are  you  nourishing  your  souls  upon  this  word  of 
God — this  bread  of  life  eternal  ?  Are  you  engaged 
actively  and  laboriously  in  work  for  the  Kingdom 
of  God?  "What  a  story  would  your  Bibles  tell  of 
regular  and  habitual  and  devout  study?  "What  a 
story  would  the  last  week  tell  of  labor  for  Christ 
and  man's  salvation?  You  do  not  expect  the  powers 
of  your  body  to  enjoy  vigorous  health  unless  you 
feed  them  with  nourishing  food  and  give  them  suita- 
ble exercise.  "Why  should  you  wonder  that  the  eye 
of  faith  is  dimmed  and  the  vigor  of  your  soul  is  re- 
laxed when  your  Bibles  remain  closed  and  your 
days  pass  without  earnest  engagement  in  Christian 
work  ?  Depend  upon  it,  brethren,  God  will  be  faith- 
ful if  you  are  faithful.  His  promise  will  not  fail  if 
you  neglect  not  his  provisions  for  you.  Here  is  his 
word;  feed  upon  it.  There  is  his  work;  engage  in 
it.  Your  souls'  meat  and  drink  are  given  you,  and 
the  labor  is  appointed.  You  can  not  expect  spirit- 
ual health  without  the  nourishment  afforded  by  the 
one  or  the  exercise  furnished  in  the  other.  "When 
you  shall  make  God's  law  your  meditation,  when 
you  shall  look  out  with  something  of  the  spirit  of 
Christ  upon  souls  dying  in  sin  and  misery  around 
you,  no  outward  surroundings,  no  enticements  or 
threatenings,  no  positive  disasters  will  disturb  your 
souls'  repose  and  your  souls'  strength  in  their  con- 
sciousness of  God's  infinite  and  eternal  love. 

Besides  this  nourishment  of  the  divine  life  by  food 
and  exercise,  the  text  suggests  as  another  means  of 
keeping  ourselves   in  the   love  of  God,  communion 


KEEPING    IN    THE    LOVE    OP   GOD.  301 

with  God  himself.  We  are  to  keep  ourselves  in  his 
love,  by  "praying  in  the  Holy  Ghost." 

How  many  of  us  esteem  prayer  a  burdensome  duty ! 
How  many  of  us  engage  in  it  as  though  it  were  noth- 
ing but  a  duty !  But  suppose  the  revelation  of  prayer 
destroyed;  suppose  that  you  did  not  know  God  as 
the  rewarder  of  them  that  diligently  seek  Him, — how 
would  you  cry  in  darkness  and  agony:  "O,  that  I 
knew  where  I  might  find  Him!"  Blessed  be  God, 
there  is  no  need  to  utter  this  cry  in  despair!  The 
announcement  that  God  hears  the  prayers  of  men, 
that  He  longs  for  their  communion  with  Him,  that 
He  will  not  fail  to  answer  them,  could  not,  by  any 
possible  use  of  human  language,  be  made  more 
clear  than  it  is  in  the  Word  of  God.  The  Old  Tes- 
tament and  the  New  alike  repeat  the  assurance.  In- 
vitation is  joined  to  command;  examples  of  answers 
are  multiplied;  the  blessed  influence  of  engagement 
in  public  and  private  devotion  is  clearly  stated;  the 
method  of  approach  to  the  Most  High  is  pointed  out ; 
the  veil  is  rent  from  top  to  bottom,  and  the  mercy- 
seat  within  the  most  holy  place  is  accessible  to  all 
the  people.  Nothing  is  left  undone  to  impel  men  to 
treat  God  as  a  Father  ever  near,  always  gracious — 
nay,  scarcely  waiting  to  hear  his  trusting  children's 
cry,  before  He  bestows  his  richest  blessings. 

Now,  when  a  Christian  complains  that  he  finds  it 
well-nigh  impossible  to  maintain  his  consciousness 
of  God's  love  for  him,  and  with  it  to  hold  himself 
strong  and  steadfast  in  the  Christian  life,  in  engross- 
ment and  enticement  and  affliction;  when  he  says 
that  secular  duties  possess  his  being,  or  untoward 
events  destroy  his  Christian  comfort,  or  his  appetites, 
appealed  to  by  earthly  enjoyments,  make  him  un- 
spiritual, — what  more  appropriate  question  could  be 


302  SERMONS    ON    THE    CHRISTIAN   LIFE. 

put  to  him  than:  "My  brother,  do  you  pray?  Do 
you  pray  earnestly?  Do  you  pray  in  the  spirit?  Do 
yOu  pray  without  ceasing !  Is  your  daily  life  a  con- 
stant praying  in  the  Holy  Ghost?"  I  come,  dear 
friends,  with  these  questions  to  you  this  morning. 
Have  your  prayers  been  real  or  perfunctory  peti- 
tions? Have  you,  believing  God's  Word,  gone  to 
God  and  poured  your  real  sins  and  actual  wants  into 
his  open  ear,  and  begged  forgiveness  and  supply? 
Let  us  examine  ourselves.  The  magnificent  revela- 
tion, that  the  God  of  heaven  attends  our  cry,  has 
not  been  made  that  you  and  I  may  ceremoniously 
repeat  from  day  to  day  set  phrases  without  earnest 
request:  it  has  been  made  that  we  may  approach 
our  God  with  the  faith  and  the  earnestness  of  chil- 
dren, remembering,  "that  if  earthly  parents,  being 
evil,  give  good  gifts  to  their  children,  much  more 
our  Father  in  heaven  will  give  good  things  to  them 
that  ask  Him."  Do  not  suppose  that  you  can  keep 
yourselves  in  God's  love  if  you  do  not  pray  to  Him. 
It  were  folly  to  believe  that  you  can  carry  with  you  an 
abiding  sense  of  his  affection  while  you  neglect  this 
great  privilege  of  free  and  confiding  communion.  All 
conviction  of  his  love  will  die,  and  all  the  strength 
which  that  conviction  imparts  will  die;  and  faith  and 
courage  will  droop,  and  your  soul  will  be  the  sport  of 
every  changing  circumstance, — unless,  familiar  with 
your  own  closets,  and  suite  ring  often  the  strong 
agony  of  real  supplication,  your  life  is  one  of  "  pray- 
ing in  the  Holy  Ghost." 

There  is  one  other  aid  mentioned  in  the  text,  not 
less  important  than  the  two  already  dwelt  upon.  We 
shall  find  it  impossible  to  keep  ourselves  in  the  love 
of  God,  unless  we  "  look  for  the  mercy  of  our  Lord 
Jesus  Christ  unto  eternal  life." 


KEEPING    IN    THE    LOVE    OF    GOD.  303 

I  have  already  said  that  nature  says  nothing  of 
the  love  of  God  for  sinners.  But  nature  and  provi- 
dence do  reveal,  and  that  in  terms  not  indistinct,  the 
wrath  of  God  against  unrighteousness.  In  the  awful 
certainty  with  which  the  laws  of  nature  inflict  their 
sanction  upon  transgressors;  in  the  hopeless  career 
of  men  who  trifle  with  the  constitution  of  their 
physical  frames;  in  the  wrecks  of  cities  and  em- 
pires and  civilizations  that  obeyed  not  the  law  writ- 
ten on  the  human  heart;  more  than  all,  in  the 
solemn  monitions  and  forebodings  of  the  consciences 
of  men,  is  made  clearly  known  the  divine  displeasure 
with  the  sin  of  man.  Over  against  all  this  nature 
gives  no  hint  of  love  and  forgiveness ;  her  single  state- 
ment is:  "As  man  has  fallen,  man  must  die."  How, 
looking  merely  on  the  pages  of  this  solemn  volume 
that  God  has  written  in  the  stars,  and  in  the  life  of 
man,  can  any  one  "  keep  himself  in  the  love  of  God"  ? 

But  another  revelation  is  yours,  Christian  friends. 
Immortality  has  been  brought  to  life.  Against  the 
sufferings  of  the  present  is  put  the  glory  to  be  revealed 
hereafter.  The  death  that  has  conquered  the  world, 
becomes  your  servant  in  Christ.  The  troubles  and 
the  joys  of  this  mortal  life  are  made  the  steps  of  your 
ascent  to  the  throne  whereon  you  shall  reign  with 
Him  for  evermore.  Eternal  life  is  yours  by  the  love 
of  God  in  Jesus  Christ.  And  now  comes  the  exhor- 
tation :  "  Keep  yourself  in  the  love  of  God  by  looking 
toward  this  eternal  life."  You  complain  that  you  lose 
the  consciousness  of  this  affection;  at  least  that  the 
consciousness  of  God's  love  is  not  a  power  in  your 
daily  life.  But  on  what  is  your  attention  fixed?  On 
earthly  things;  on  trial  and  trouble;  on  sickness  and 
death  ;  on  the  awful  retributions  of  nature,  and  on  the 
predicted  "wreck  of  matter  and  crush  of  worlds?" 


304  SERMONS    ON    THE    CHRISTIAN   LIFE. 

These  are  not  the  revelation  of  God's  love  to  you. 
And  you  can  not  keep  yourself  in  his  love  hy  con- 
templating them.  They  will  only  make  your  gloom 
deeper.  They  will  only  multiply  your  temptations 
to  doubt  God's  affection.  They  will  make  sin  more 
easy  and  holiness  more  nearly  an  impossible  attain- 
ment. Look  beyond  them.  Look  to  eternal  life.  In 
the  promise  of  eternal  life  is  the  revelation  of  God's 
infinite  love !  How  full  the  New  Testament  is  of  pas- 
sages which  teach  the  truth  that  this  contemplation 
of  eternal  life  uplifts  the  soul!  We  are  saved  by  the 
hope  of  its  glories.  It  is  the  anticipation  of  them 
that  makes  us  pure,  as  Christ  is  pure.  It  is  when 
we  are  looking  at  its  unseen  and  eternal  blessings 
that  affliction  works  for  us  a  far  more  exceeding  and 
eternal  weight  of  glory.  If,  therefore,  you  would 
keep  your  consciousness  of  God's  love,  think  often 
of  the  blessedness  lie  has  in  store  for  you.  Antici- 
pate the  undefiled  inheritance.  Live  in  expectation 
of  your  life  in  the  heavenly  city.  "Look  for  the 
mercy  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  unto  life  eternal." 

Thus,  in  terms  as  plain  as  I  can  employ,  I  have 
tried  to  show  the  importance  of  the  exhortation  and 
the  means  which  you  are  to  use  in  obeying  it.  Day 
after  day  you  will  be  assaulted  by  temptations  to 
doubt  God.  In  your  business,  in  your  homes,  by 
means  of  vexation  or  pleasure  or  affliction,  the  un- 
tiring foe  of  your  souls  will  seek  to  separate  your 
life  from  God.  If  he  can  not  allure  you  to  commit 
open  crime,  he  will  endeavor  to  poison  the  springs 
of  your  spiritual  life.  And  evil  thoughts  and  unwor- 
thy suspicions  will  suggest  themselves;  and  so  by 
slow  but  sure  gradations  will  you  fall  into  captivity 
to  sin ;  unless  an  effective  antidote  is  yours.  Such 
an  antidote  this  "Word  has  furnished  us  in  its  rev- 


KEEPING   IN   THE   LOVE    OF   GOD.  305 

elation  of  God's  love  for  us.  Am  I  indeed  beloved 
by  Him  ?  Has  He  given  his  Son  to  die  for  me  ? 
Does  his  creation  exist,  and  do  the  plans  of  his 
providence  move  forward  to  their  fulfillment,  that 
I  may  rise  to  fellowship  with  God?  Could  this 
thought  be  ever-present  and  powerful,  how  could  I 
war  with  sin,  how  could  I  grow  in  grace,  how  would 
my  light  shine  as  the  path  of  the  just  more  and  more 
unto  the  perfect  day!  But  this  thought  can  be 
always  present,  and  always  mighty.  If  it  is  not,  it 
is  your  own  fault.  Build  up  yourself  on  your  most 
holy  faith ;  nourish  your  soul  with  God's  Word,  and 
exercise  yourself  in  Christian  work  day  by  day. 
Pray  in  the  Holy  Ghost;  never  be  satisfied  with  vain 
repetitions,  but  wrestle  like  Jacob,  and  plead  like 
Abraham.  Look  for  the  mercy  of  Jesus  Christ  unto 
life  eternal;  keep  in  your  mind  the  all-blessed  con- 
summation of  your  present  life ;  and,  if  God  be  true, 
the  sense  of  his  love  will  never  be  absent;  and  by 
its  power  you  will  know  what  it  is  to  be  more  than 
conquerors  .through  Him  who  loves  you. 

There  are  those  here  who  do  not  know  the  love  of 
God  in  Jesus  Christ — who  have  not  accepted  Him. 
My  friends,  with  what  can  you  meet  temptations  to 
sin  ?  "What  is  your  strength  against  the  day  of  afflic- 
tion ?  How  do  you  propose  to  make  or  keep  your 
lives  lofty  in  the  presence  of  so  many  and  such  mighty 
allurements  to  unhallowed  lives?  If  you  do  not  be- 
lieve in  Christ,  you  certainly  can  not  believe  in  God's 
love  of  you.  Estranged  from  the  Son  of  God,  you 
know  God  only  as  the  unfailing  executioner  of  his 
law,  and  you  know  yourselves  only  as  sinners.  Are 
you  content  with  your  condition  ?  Do  you  dare  to 
reflect  on  the  hopeless  and  wretched  issue  of  such 
a  life   as  yours?     I  can    not  portray  it.     I  can  not 


306  SERMONS    ON    THE    CHRISTIAN    LIFE. 

tell  the  horrors  which  nature  and  your  own  con- 
science prophesy  to  be  your  doom.  But  I  can  lift  my 
voice  and  say:  In  Jesus  Christ,  God  is  love,  and  He 
bids  you  come  to  Him  by  faith  in  his  Son.  Without 
Him  you  have  no  hope,  and  you  know  it;  when  you 
think  of  it  you  feel  it  and  confess  it.  His  is  the 
only  name  given  under  heaven  whereby  you  can  be 
saved.  To  Him  then  come,  and  come  now.  A  new 
light  will  glorify  your  life,  a  new  power  will  nerve 
your  spirit,  a  new  hope  will  brighten  the  hour  of 
your  death,  a  new  bliss  will  dissipate  your  forebod- 
ings of  the  life  to  come.  For  the  love  of  God — the 
love  that  no  time  can  diminish,  and  no  created  being 
can  destroy — shall  be  shed  abroad  in  your  hearts  by 
the  Holy  Ghost  given  unto  you. 


XX. 

THE  LIGHT  GRANTED  IN  DARKNESS. 

"But  all  the  children  of  Israel  had  light  in  their  dwellings." — 
Exodus  x,  23. 

This  statement  is  taken  from  the  narrative  of  the 
ninth  plague  sent  upon  the  land  of  Egypt — the  plague 
of  darkness — a  thick  darkness  which  might  be  felt. 
It  serves  to  show  the  determination  of  the  haughty 
monarch  not  to  be  defeated  in  his  contest  with  what 
he  regarded  as  the  national  divinity  of  his  bondmen; 
that  after  eight  terrible  calamities  had  befallen  his 
people,  he  was  still  intractable  and  would  not  let 
the  children  of  Israel  go.  How  terrible  these  judg- 
ments must  have  been  to  Pharaoh  and  his* nation, 
will  in  some  measure  be  understood,  when  they  are 
studied  in  connection  with  the  country  they  befell. 
"  It  is  not  an  ordinary  river,"  says  Dean  Stanley,  in 
his  lecture  on  the  Exodus,  "that  is  turned  into  blood; 
it  is  the  sacred,  beneficent  and  solitary  Nile,  the  very 
life  of  the  state  and  of  the  people.  It  is  not  an  or- 
dinary land  of  which  the  flax  and  the  barley,  and 
every  green  thing  in  the  trees,  and  every  herb  of  the 
field  are  smitten  by  the  two  great  calamities  of  the 
storm  and  the  locust.    It  is  the  garden  of  the  ancient 

(307) 


308  SERMONS    ON    THE    CHRISTIAN   LIFE. 

Eastern  world,  the  long  line  of  green  meadow  and 
grain-field,  and  groves  of  palm  and  sycamore  and 
fig-tree  from  the  Cataracts  to  the  Delta,  doubly  re- 
freshing from  the  desert  which  it  intersects,  doubly 
marvelous  from  the  river  whence  it  springs."  And 
pursuing  the  line  of  remark  thus  suggested  by  the 
lecturer,  it  may  be  said  concerning  this  ninth  plague: 
It  was  not  a  land  accustomed  to  the  obscuration 
of  the  sun  by  day  and  the  stars  by  night,  through 
the  intervention  of  fog  and  mist  and  rain-cloud, 
which  a  thick  darkness  that  might  be  felt  envel- 
oped for  three  long  days.  Modern  travelers  have 
made  us  all  familiar  with  the  deep  blue  of  the  noon- 
day sky,  the  brilliant  heavens  by  night,  and  the  per- 
petual dryness  and  clearness  of  its  atmosphere.  Such 
was  the  land  of  Egypt,  over  all  of  which  when  Moses 
stretched  forth  his  hand  toward  heaven,  there  came 
a  darkness,  even  a  thick  darkness,  which  might  be 
felt.  "Men,"  we  are  told,  "saw  not  one  another; 
neither  rose  any  from  his  place  for  three  days."  The 
sudden  gloom  must  not  only  have  produced  great 
positive  misery,  through  the  necessary  cessation  of 
all  industries,  but  must  also  have  been  to  the  Egyp- 
tians ominous  of  a  near  and  total  destruction. 

Residing  in  the  land,  and  doubtless  suffering  in 
some  measure  both  inconvenience  and  positive  pain 
from  this  visitation,  the  children  of  Israel  were  still 
released  not  only  from  many  of  the  greater  miseries 
which  it  brought  upon  the  Egyptians,  but  also  from 
apprehension.  Whether  by  physical  miracle,  or  by 
previous  information  concerning  the  coming  judgment 
that  enabled  them  to  make  provision,  we  are  not 
told; — but  in  some  way  God  so  intervened,  that 
during  the  plague  of  darkness  "all  the  children  of 
Israel  had  light  in  their  dwellings."     Doubtless  they 


THE    LIGHT   GRANTED    IN    DARKNESS.  309 

suffered  with  the  Egyptians;  their  intercourse  with 
each  other  must  have  partially  been  suspended ;  and 
discomfort  must  have  been  universal  among  them. 
But  they  knew  that  the  end  would  come;  that  the 
darkness  had  been  sent  by  their  Father's  God  and 
their  God,  and  meanwhile,  "all  of  them  had  light 
within  their  dwellings." 

We  hear  a  great  deal  said  about  the  typical  char- 
acter of  the  life  of  the  children  of  Israel.  It  is  true 
that  there  is  much  in  their  career,  and  particularly 
in  this  portion  of  their  career,  that  is  typical  of  the 
life  of  the  children  of  God,  his  spiritual  Israel,  in 
this  world.  But  it  is  easy  to  believe  that  many 
things  are  types  which  are  not  types ;  and  I  am  dis- 
posed to  think  that  many  Christian  students  of  the 
Bible  have  erred  on  this  side.  It  is  essential  to  a 
type  that  it  be  preordained  as  such.  If  this  treat- 
ment of  the  children  of  Israel  is  typical  of  God's 
treatment  of  his  people  now,  then  was  it  ordained  to 
be  typical.  But  this  we  do  not  know;  this  we  can 
not  know.  I  do  not  therefore  insist  upon  it.  It  is 
enough  to  say  that  it  is  strikingly  illustrative  of 
God's  treatment  of  his  children  in  these  last  days; 
that  there  are  marked  resemblances  between  the 
two  on  which  we  may  dwell  with  interest  and  profit. 
And  why  should  we  not  expect  just  such  resem- 
blances ?  .  It  is  the  same  God  who  is  the  actor. 
They  were  his  children,  and  we  are  his  children, 
lie  had  a  high  mission  for  them  to  fulfill,  and  He 
has  a  high  mission  for  us  to  fulfill.  So,  I  say,  we 
ought  to  expect  resemblances,  and  with  this  expecta- 
tion we  ought  to  study  the  Old  Testament.  In  its 
narrative  of  the  career  of  his  chosen  people,  we  may, 
if  we  search  for  them,  find  the  same  principles  of 
gracious  administration,  and  at  last  the  same  infinite 


310  SERMONS    ON    THE    CHRISTIAN    LIFE. 

and  enduring  love  which  shine  so  conspicuous  in 
the  New  Testament  of  our  Lord  and  Saviour.  So 
let  us  study  the  older  volume ;  so  let  us  study  this 
statement:  "But  all  the  children  of  Israel  had  light 
in  their  dwellings."  We  shall  find  it  full  of  sug- 
gestion as  to  God's  treatment  of  his  people  in  afflic- 
tion. 

I.  And  first  I  ask  you  to  notice  that  in  his  great 
providential  judgments  God  treats  his  people,  and  those 
not  his  people,  exactly  alike.  In  this  respect  we  dis- 
cern no  difference  between  the  most  devoted  Chris- 
tian and  the  most  malignant  foe  of  God;  between 
the  children  of  Israel  and  the  Egyptians.  The  differ- 
ence in  their  condition  is  not  to  be  ascertained  by  a 
study  of  God's  providential  visitations.  The  children 
of  Israel  had  light  within  their  dwellings,  but  this 
was  not  providential ;  it  was  a  gracious  interference. 
It  is  true  also,  that  like  the  Egyptians,  they  suffered 
from  the  plague.  There  was  darkness  over  all  the  land 
of  Egypt — and  this  includes  the  dwelling  place  of 
the  Hebrews — a  thick  darkness  which  might  be  felt. 
If  we  could  always  in  affliction,  remember  the  truth 
thus  illustrated,  our  murmurings  at  the  providence  of 
God  would  be  fewer  and  less  bitter.  It  is  not  the  pur- 
pose of  God  to  remove  from  the  Christian  while  in  this 
world  the  great  causes  of  suffering  which  sin  has  cre- 
ated. The  Christian,  not  less  than  the  man  of  the 
world,  is  subjected  to  all  the  ills  that  flesh  is  heir  to. 
I  do  not  stop  to  explain  or  justify  this  appointment 
of  God,  to  show  its  consistency  with  his  infinite  or 
his  special  love.  I  call  your  attention  simply  to  the 
fact,  and  assert  that  it  has  always  been  so.  When 
darkness  came  at  the  command  of  God  over  the 
land  of  the  oppressor,  there  were  not  rifts  of  light 
over  the  habitations  of  Israel.     Darkness  settled  over 


THE  LIGHT  GRANTED  IN  DARKNESS.       311 

their  homes  just  as  it  settled  over  the  homes  of  their 
idolatrous  foes.  And  so  it  is  now.  When  the  pes- 
tilence that  walketh  in  darkness  is  abroad  in  the  land, 
it  is  perfectly  impartial  in  its  blind  obedience  to  the 
laws  of  nature.  Other  things  being  equal,  it  enters 
with  the  same  eagerness  and  upon  the  same  errand 
the  houses  of  the  good  and  of  the  bad.  Because  you 
are  a  Christian  you  are  not  freed  from  sickness,  or 
losses,  or  bereavement,  or  death.  And  yet,  who  does 
not  know,  that  the  first  impulse  of  every  Christian 
when  thus  suffering,  is  to  cry  out  against  the  Prov- 
idence which  selected  him,  a  child  of  God,  a  devoted 
laborer  in  the  Church,  as  the  object  of  a  terrible  vis- 
itation. All  of  us  are  disposed,  when  a  Christian 
man  is  stricken  suddenly  with  sickness,  or  poverty, 
or  perhaps  is  taken  away  in  the  midst  of  a  useful 
life,  to  say :  How  mysterious  the  providence  of  God ! 
How  inexplicable  the  procedure! 

Now,  it  ought  to  be  remembered  that  God  in  his 
Gospel  does  not  come  to  us  with  a  promise  to  alter 
the  course  of  his  providential  dealings,  but  with  a 
promise  to  adjust  our  spiritual  life  to  them.  In 
other  words,  the  Spirit  of  God  in  this  world, 
effects  not  so  much  a  change  in  nature,  as  a  change 
in  man's  heart.  I  know  that  a  time  is  coming  when 
outward  circumstances  will  be  changed ;  when 
there  will  be  no  more  darkness  of  any  kind ;  when 
the  former  things  will  have  passed  away.  But  that 
time  has  not  yet  come.  Sickness  is  here.  The  reign  of 
death  continues.  "In  the  world  ye  shall  have  tribula- 
tion," are  the  words  addressed  by  our  Lord  to  his  dis- 
ciples. We  may  not,  as  Christians,  expect  exemption 
from  it.  When  a  great  judgment  is  abroad  in  the 
land,  God's  people  must  anticipate  suffering.  To  antic- 
ipate any  thing  else  were  to  mistake  the  whole  scope 


312  SERMONS   ON   THE   CHRISTIAN   LIFE. 

and  purpose  of  the  redemption  which  He  has  provided. 
That  redemption,  during  our  present  life,  is  not  dis- 
tinctively a  redemption  from  worldly  ills,  but  distinct- 
ively it  is  a  redemption  in  the  midst  of  worldly  ills. 
We  may  not  expect  to  rejoice  as  freed  from  tribu- 
lation. It  will  be  enough  to  rejoice  in  tribulation. 
When  darkness  is  over  all  the  land  of  Egypt,  Israel 
must  expect  that  the  darkness  will  visit  them,  and 
they  must  not  murmur  when  the  cloud  begins  to 
obscure  the  sky.  Let  them  rather  rejoice  and  give 
thanks  to  their  covenant  God  that,  unlike  the  Egyp- 
tians, all  of  them  have  light  in  their  dwellings. 

II.  And  this  brings  me  to  the  second  truth  sug- 
gested  by  the  text;  the  truth,  namely,  that  the  com- 
fort and  light  given  to  his  people,  is  individual  in  its 
application.  The  darkness  was  over  all  the  land  of 
Egypt,  over  Israelites  as  well  as  over  Egyptians;  but 
to  the  Israelites,  his  children,  God  gave  a  special  and 
gracious  relief.  And  this  relief  was  not  a  dissipa- 
tion but  a  mitigation  of  the  darkness.  In  some  way, 
either  miraculously,  or  by  enabling  them  through 
prophecy  of  the  coming  disaster  to  provide  for  it,  He 
gave  them  light  in  their  dwellings.  There  was,  at  all 
events,  a  special  and  gracious  interposition  on  the 
part  of  God  to  prepare  them  against  the  general  ca- 
tastrophe, in  which,  because  dwelling  in  the  same 
land  with  his  enemies,  they  were  necessarily  in- 
volved. 

And  just  this  is  the  trait  of  the  provision  which 
God  makes  for  us  in  his  Gospel.  Among  the  many 
contrasts  between  his  law  and  his  grace,  there  is  no 
one  more  striking  than  this,  namely,  that  the  former 
does  not  and  the  latter  does  take  note  of  individuals. 
You  and  I  are  under  the  laws  by  which  God's  govern- 
ment is  administered  and  by  which  the  operations  of 


THE    LIGHT    GRANTED   IN    DARKNESS.  313 

his  Providence  are  determined.  We  can  not  escape 
them  any  more  than  we  can  escape  his  presence. 
They  are  executed  upon  us,  just  as  they  are  executed 
upon  his  most  malignant  enemies.  They  know  neither 
the  good  nor  the  bad.  The  fire  which  destroys  so 
many  lives,  does  not  stop  in  its  destructive  course 
because  a  good  man  stands  in  its  way.  The  move- 
ment of  the  accidental  missile  is  not  deflected  by  the 
presence  of  a  Christian.  When  the  earthquake  en- 
gulfs a  city,  the  pious  and  the  impious  alike  are 
swallowed  up.  Death  knows  no  distinctions.  Just 
as  in  Egypt,  the  darkness  is  over  all  the  land.  But 
God's  grace  is  always  given  to  mitigate  the  disaster. 
There  is  light  vouchsafed  the  Israelites.  His  grace 
does  note  individuals.  It  is  not  only  for  all  man- 
kind in  its  proffer,  but  for  each  man  who  accepts 
it  at  the  hand  of  God.  Thus  the  Gospel  blesses 
separate  persons  with  its  gracious  and  powerful  aid. 
This  is  a  great  truth,  dear  friends,  commonplace  as 
its  announcement  may  appear  to  you.  God  does 
not  change  the  course  of  his  government  for  any 
man.  His  inexorable  laws  move  forward  like  the 
stars,  unhasting  and  unresting.  But  this  He  does, 
and  this  is  the  glory  of  his  Gospel.  Whoever  be- 
comes an  Israelite  indeed;  whoever  separates  himself 
from  God's  enemies — the  Egyptians — is  from  that 
moment  under  the  most  high  God's  special  care.  He 
may  suffer,  but  God  will  give  him  light.  lie  may 
be  a  victim,  but  God  will  see  to  it  that  he  is  not 
utterly  destroyed.  In  tribulation  he  will  know  that 
he  is  not  utterly  forsaken.  I  do  not  now  dwell  upon 
the  character  of  the  provision  which  God  makes. 
I  only  call  your  attention  to  the  truth  that  lie 
cares  for  you  as  individuals.  This  is  the  only  com- 
fort that  the  soul  feels  to  be  adequate  when  fore- 


314  SERMONS    ON    THE    CHRISTIAN   LIFE. 

seeing  or  feeling  disaster  that  visits  all  men  im- 
partially with  misery.  Does  God  know  me?  Does 
God  care  for  my  soul?  Will  He  hear  my  cry?  Will 
He  give  me  light  in  the  inevitable  darkness  of  sick- 
ness and  loss  and  death  ?  With  these  questions,  I 
turn  to  his  Gospel,  and  there  alone,  among  the  voices 
of  the  universe,  do  I  find  the  response  that  I  desire. 
The  Gospel,  I  repeat,  is  a  personal  Gospel.  Its 
promises  are  for  individuals.  God  notes  the  fall  of 
each  sparrow,  and  cares  for  the  special  wants  of  each 
Christian  soul.  As  separate  from  all  others,  I  pray 
and  labor,  am  bereaved  and  die.  In  the  great  crises 
of  my  life  I  am  in  utter  solitude;  I  tread  the  wine- 
press alone.  And  God  comes  to  me  and  makes  pro- 
vision for  me  and  hears  my  prayers,  just  as  though 
I  were  the  only  being  in  the  universe.  To  my  dwell- 
ing— not  to  the  whole  Church  of  God,  but  to  my 
separate  dwelling — the  God  of  Israel  brings  light  to 
mitigate  the  thick  darkness.  Brethren,  if  this  per- 
sonal application  of  the  grace  of  God  were  not  a 
truth,  then  were  the  Gospel  no  Gospel.  What  to  me 
were  the  revelation  that  the  Almighty  is  merciful  in 
general,  if  I,  as  an  individual,  am  not  an  object 
of  his  mercy?  No,  friends,  the  blessedness  of  his 
grace  is  that  his  light  is  in  the  humblest  and  most 
isolated  dwelling  where  one  of  his  people  resides. 
The  supreme  comfort  of  his  Gospel  is,  that  no  one 
who  accepts  Christ  may  say,  my  way  is  hid  from  the 
Lord.  The  consummate  loveliness  of  the  Shepherd 
of  Israel  is  that,  as  He  leadeth  his  flock,  He  knoweth 
and  calleth  and  careth  for  each  member  of  it  by 
name.  And  therefore  it  is,  that  in  calling  you,  who 
are  not  Christ's,  to  become  his,  we  do  not  call  you 
to  place  yourself  under  a  general  system  of  merry, 
but  we   olicr  you  a  personal  Saviour.     He  will  be 


THE    LIGHT    GRANTED   IN    DARKNESS.  315 

as  much  yours  as  He  would  be  if  you  were  the  only 
redeemed  soul  in  the  universe.  He  will  care  for 
you  as  though  He  had  no  other  care.  The  light  of 
grace  in  your  dwelling  will  be  given  you,  just  as 
though  there  were  no  other  dwellings  which  He 
would  illumine  with  his  presence  and  his  peace. 

III.  But,  again,  the  text  suggests  that  God's  gra- 
cious interposition  here  is  not  only  individual,  but 
also  a  partial  mitigation  of  ill;  that  is  to  say,  He  in- 
terposes only  enough  to  enable  us  to  trust  Him  and 
to  perform  the  duties  which  his  providence  devolves. 
The  darkness  was  over  all  the  land.  The  gloom 
spread  where  both  the  Egyptians  and  the  Israelites 
dwelt.  To  the  latter,  we  are  told,  God  gave  light  in 
their  dwellings.  The  language,  however,  clearly  con- 
veys the  fact  that  it  was  not  an  entire  dissipation  of 
the  darkness.  They  were  not  flooded  with  the  noon- 
day light  of  a  new  sun.  Just  enough  was  given 
them  to  enable  them  to  feel  that  God  was  their 
friend;  just  enough  was  vouchsafed  to  assure  them 
that  the  gloom  would  not  be  perpetual;  just  enough 
to  enable  them  to  go  about  the  necessary  duties  of 
life.  This,  as  I  read  it,  was  the  character  of  God's 
gracious  interposition.  It  was  not  an  utter  over- 
throw of  the  empire  of  darkness ;  it  was  rather  a 
mitigation  of  its  tyranny.  And  thus  the  statement 
of  the  text  pictures  as  in  a  parable  the  partial  nat- 
ure of  God's  gracious  interposition  now. 

Death  is  over  the  land  now,  as  darkness  was  over 
the  land  then;  and  so  are  sickness,  and  losses,  and 
the  sad  agony  of  bereavement. 

"  The  air  is  full  of  farewells  to  the  dying, 
And  mournings  for  the  dead. 
The  heart  of  l?achel  for  her  children  crying 
Will  not  he  comforted." 


316  SERMONS    ON    THE    CHRISTIAN   LIFE. 

And  now,  in  this  darkness,  God  gives  lighx  to  his 
people,  to  all  who  repose  on  his  promises.  But 
the  light  that  He  gives,  like  the  light  to  Israel  of 
old,  is,  it  must  be  confessed,  dim  at  best.  Still  do 
we  see  as  through  a  glass,  darkly.  He  does  not 
open  the  heavens,  and  reveal  to  us  the  glory  with 
which  the  sufferings  of  the  present  are  not  worthy 
to  be  compared.  He  does  not  enable  us,  in  the 
case  of  each  affliction,  to  foresee  just  how  it  will  ful- 
fill his  promise  of  a  higher  blessedness.  He  does  not 
permit  us  to  behold  those,  whom  He  has  taken  from 
us,  rejoicing  in  his  presence.  The  light  that  He 
grants  is  dim;  our  hearts  still  suffer  because  of  the 
mystery  of  affliction ;  still  does  He  say  to  us :  "  What 
I  do  thou  knowest  not  now,  but  thou  shalt  know 
hereafter." 

It  is  true,  that  what  He  gives  us  is  invaluable.  It 
suffices  to  keep  the  bruised  reed  from  breaking,  and 
the  smoking  flax  from  becoming  utterly  quenched. 
It  is  an  unspeakable  relief  in  affliction,  to  possess  the 
promise  that  He  will  never  leave  us  nor  forsake  us; 
and  to  possess  the  assurance  that  all  things  work  to- 
gether for  our  good.  But  we  want  more;  we  cry  like 
the  dying  German  poet:  "More  light."  How  hard  it 
is  in  the  darkness  to  keep  from  murmuring,  even  at  the 
mercy-seat!  How  difficult  at  times  to  preserve  our 
faith ;  so  dim  is  the  light  within  our  dwellings,  while 
a  thick  darkness  is  all  around  them.  Why  is  it — we 
ask  ourselves — why  is  it  that  God  does  not  dissipate 
the  mystery  that  is  incident  to  affliction?  "Why  does 
He  not  pour  down  upon  us  a  flood  of  celestial  light, 
instead  of  giving  us  only  enough  to  make  the  dark- 
ness more  visible?  I  do  not  know  that  the  question 
can  be  adequately  answered.  Indeed,  to  answer  it 
would  be  to  dissipate  the  darkness.    But  I  think  that 


THE    LIGHT   GRANTED    IN    DARKNESS.  317 

it  may  be  said,  that  God's  conduct  towards  us  in 
affliction, is  determined  by  the  reasons  which  led  Him 
to  deal  with  the  Israelites  in  the  same  way.  He  was 
educating  them  for  a  great  future;  and  it  was  requi- 
site, above  all  things  else,  that  they  should  learn  to 
trust  Him ;  and  therefore  He  gave  them  only  light 
enough  to  show  them  that  He  was  their  God;  and 
for  the  rest  He  bade  them  trust  implicitly  to  Him. 
Where  had  been  the  virtue  of  their  faith  had  He 
not,  after  evoking,  tried  it?  And  so  it  is  with  us. 
He  gives  us  only  comfort  enough  to  call  forth  our 
faith  in  Him  as  an  ever-present  and  almighty 
Friend,  and  then  calls  us  to  believe  Him.  It  is  ours 
to  respond :  "  Though  He  slay  me,  yet  will  I  trust 
in  Him." 

IV.  Let  us  notice,  as  another  lesson  of  the  text,  the 
truth,  that  these  mitigations  of  the  darkness  of  afflic- 
tion are  evidence  that  God  is  our  friend.  We  under- 
stand this,  in  the  case  of  the  children  of  Israel. 
When  we  read  the  statement  that  there  was  darkness 
over  all  the  land,  we  describe  the  darkness  as  a  ter- 
rible judgment  of  God  on  guilty  Egypt;  and  when 
we  read  the  statement:  "But  all  the  children  of 
Israel  had  light  in  their  dwellings,"  we  at  once 
say,  with  what  gladness  and  thanksgiving  must  the 
light,  faint  though  it  was,  have  been  welcomed  by  the 
people  of  Israel;  since  it  was  the  evidence  of  God's 
friendship — the  assurance  that  the  Omnipotence, 
which  had  wrought  on  their  foes  an  awful  inflic- 
tion, was  working  also  in  love  to  them.  Of  course 
they  poured  forth  their  gratitude  in  songs  of  praise; 
and  why  should  not  we  also?  God  gives  us  light 
as  He  gave  them  light;  promise  after  promise  shines 
into  our  hearts  from  the  pages  of  his  Word;  we  do 
not   walk  in  darkness   unrelieved.     The    light  that 


318  SERMONS    ON    THE    CHRISTIAN    LIFE. 

God  gives  us  is  not  all  He  might  bestow;  but  it  is 
enough  to  indicate  his  friendship.  Does  He  not  tell 
us  that  all  things  are  ours  ?  Does  He  not  bid  us 
cry:  "If  God  be  for  us,  who  can  be  against  us?" 
Now,  how  shall  we  treat  his  promises,  when  we  suf- 
fer from  sickness  or  loss  or  bereavement?  Shall 
we  complain  because  the  light  is  not  more  brilliant; 
shall  we  murmur  because  these  are  promises  only, 
and  not  their  fulfillment;  shall  we  return  no  love 
because  God  awakens  hope  instead  of  vouchsafing 
its  fruition?  This  is  too  often  our  conduct.  But 
how  unworthy  of  the  children  of  God !  Let  us  seek 
grace  to  accept  God's  promises,  not  only  uncomplain- 
ingly, but  with  gratitude  to  Him  who  thus  makes  us 
sure  of  his  friendship ;  of  his  infinite  and  everlasting 
love. 

V.  But  not  to  dwell  further  on  this,  I  remark, 
finally,  that  the  light  in  the  dwellings  of  Israel  was  not 
only  the  proof  of  God's  friendship ;  it  was  also — and 
this  was  its  special  mission — the  pledge  of  final  tri- 
umph. It  was  the  earnest  of  deliverance  from  Egypt, 
and  of  a  victorious  entrauce  into  Canaan.  I  can 
not  stop  to  dwell  on  this  truth.  Indeed,  there  is 
needed  only  its  simple  statement.  Let  me  say,  how- 
ever, that  this  is  true  also  of  the  light  which  He 
gives  to  us.  The  comfort  that  we  receive  on  earth 
is  the  pledge  of  heaven.  Heaven  will  be  filled  with 
joyous  surprises;  but  heaven  itself  will  be  no  sur- 
prise; for,  even  here,  God  has  prepared  us  for  it,  not 
only  by  the  promise  that  it  shall  be  ours,  but  by 
some  token  of  his  presence  that  makes  it  easy  for 
the  Christian  to  believe  the  promise.  In  the  loneli- 
ness, in  which  He  calls  us  at  times  to  walk  along 
the  pathway  of  our  pilgrimage,  He  permits  us  to 
feel  the  grasp  of  the  hand  of  the  Friend  that  sticketh 


THE    LIGHT    GRANTED    IN    DARKNESS.  319 

closer  than  a  brother.  In  the  deepest  grief  He  sheds 
abroad  his  love  in  our  hearts.  Why  should  we  not 
believe  in  heaven?  "Why  should  we  not  feel  sure 
that  we  shall  survive  all  losses,  and  praise  God  for 
them  ?  The  light  which  God  gives  us  now,  is  the 
pledge  of  his  bestowment  on  his  redeemed  people  of 
the  city  whose  light  is  the  Lamb,  and  in  which 
there  shall  be  no  night  for  evermore. 

These  words  will  have  been  spoken  in  vain,  if  they 
shall  not  call  into  more  vigorous  activity  our  faith 
in  God.  I  do  not  wonder  that  Christians  lose,  for 
the  time,  their  faith  and  hope.  The  cares  and  the 
adverse  occurrences  of  life  are  so  many  and  we  are 
so  weak,  that  it  would  be  strange  if  we  did  not 
sometimes  doubt  God's  love.  But  if  we  have  listened 
to  these  words  in  the  right  spirit,  they  can  not  fail 
to  strengthen  our  faith  in  God.  The  Church  of  God 
was  founded  and  the  Word  of  God  was  written  in 
order  to  reanimate  our  drooping  graces.  And  with 
his  Word  in  our  heart,  the  method  of  God's  deal- 
ings is  not  hard  to  understand.  As  we  have  seen, 
He  does  all,  in  order  to  lead  us  nearer  to  Him  and 
prepare  us  for  the  perfect  happiness  of  heaven.  And 
yet,  when  affliction  comes,  we  are  tempted  to  doubt 
Him.  Brethren,  let  us  uproot  these  doubts,  and 
let  us  urge  the  petition  always  befitting  disciples: 
"  Lord,  increase  our  faith  ! " 

Moreover,  these  truths  should  stimulate  us  to  more 
earnest  labor  in  behalf  of  the  Kingdom  of  God.  For 
they  imply  that  God  is  always  active  in  behalf  of 
those  who  trust  in  Him.  Doubt  not,  that  when  God 
calls  you  to  work,  you  are  called  to  be  a  co-worker 
with  God  himself.  Be  sure  that  nothing  that  you  do 
for  Him  will  fail  to  bless  the  world.  "Be  ye  stead- 
fast, immovable,  always  abounding  in  the  work  of 


320  SERMONS    ON    THE    CHRISTIAN   LIFE. 

the  Lord,  forasmuch  as  ye  know  that  your  labor  can 
not  be  in  vain  in  the  Lord." 

Finally,  let  me  say,  that  the  light  which  God  gave 
in  Egypt,  was  given  only  to  his  covenant  people. 
It  is  so  now.  Until  \ou  make  yourselves  his,  no 
light  can  fall  from  heaven  on  your  pathway.  Every 
sorrow's  darkness  will  be  unrelieved;  for  none  of 
your  disappointments  or  losses  will  you  see  compen- 
sation in  a  future  life.  Sickness  will  be  dark;  be- 
reavement will  be  dark ;  and  looking  forward  to 
death,  how  shall  you  be  able  to  describe  the  experi- 
ence which  it  prophesies,  except  by  the  words  "a 
thick  darkness  that  may  be  felt" — a  blackness  of 
darkness?  Come,  then,  to  Him  who  is  the  Light; 
who  has  brought  life  and  immortality  to  light;  and 
who  will  welcome  all  that  become  his  covenant  peo- 
ple, to  the  city  of  which  it  is  written:  "And  there 
shall  be  no  night  there." 


XXI. 

PRAYING  THE  MORE  BECAUSE  DOUBTING. 

"And  the  multitude  rebuked  them,  because  they  should  hold 
their  peace;  but  they  cried  the  more,  saying,  Have  mercy  on  us, 
O  Lord,  thou  Son  of  David." — Matthew  xx,  31. 

These  words  are  found  in  Matthew's  narrative  of 
the  healing  by  our  Lord  of  two  blind  men  at  the 
gate  of  Jericho,  when  He  was  leaving  that  city 
on  his  last  journey  to  Jerusalem.  There  is  an  appar- 
ent discrepancy  between  the  three  accounts  of  this 
miracle,  which  it  may  be  well  to  explain  before  tak- 
ing up  our  subject.  According  to  Matthew,  our 
Lord  healed  two  blind  men  on  leaving  the  city; 
according  to  Mark,  lie  healed  one  blind  man  on 
leaving  the  city;  according  to  Luke,  one  blind  man 
cried  for  sight  when  Christ  entered  the  city,  and 
our  Lord  healed  him;  and  but  for  Matthew's  and 
Mark's  accounts,  we  should  have  said  that  He  healed 
him  before  He  went  into  the  city.  The  fact  seems 
to  be,  that  our  Lord,  when  entering  the  city,  was 
invoked  by  one  of  these  blind  men, — Bartimeus  by 
name, — and  that,  without  healing  him,  He  went  into 
the  city;  purposely  postponing  the  miracle,  in  order 
to  try  his  faith;  that  on  the  next  day,  Bartimeus, 

(321) 


322  SERMONS    ON    THE    CHRISTIAN    LIFE. 

now  joined  by  another  blind  man,  made  his  way  to 
the  gate,  out  of  which  the  Lord  and  his  disciples 
would  go  on  their  journey  to  Jerusalem;  that  on 
the  approach  of  Jesus,  the  two  men  united  their 
cries  for  mercy;  that  Jesus  stood  still  and  called 
them  and  said:  "What  will  ye  that  I  shall  do  unto 
you?"  that  they  answered:  "Lord,  that  our  eyes 
may  be  opened;"  that  the  miracle  of  healing  was 
performed,  and  the  two  men  joined  the  company  of 
his  disciples  and  followed  Him  toward  Jerusalem. 

The  incident  which  our  text  records  occurred, 
then,  at  the  gate  through  which  our  Lord  and  his 
company  made  their  exit  from  Jericho.  Advised 
of  the  approach  of  the  great  Prophet  and  Healer, 
the  blind  men  cry  out  vehemently,  in  words  of 
worship,  of  faith  and  of  prayer:  "Have  mercy  on 
us,  O  Lord,  thou  Son  of  David ! "  Whether  the  mul- 
titude were  priests  and  Pharisees,  who  could  not 
bear  to  hear  the  Nazarene  addressed  as  the  "  Son  of 
David,"  or  whether  they  were  disciples,  who  did  not 
wish  their  Lord's  triumphal  procession  disturbed  by 
the  cries  of  beggars,  or  whether  they  were  both,  I  do 
not  know.  At  any  rate,  the  multitude  rebuked  the 
blind  men,  commanding  them  to  hold  their  peace. 
Instead  of  obeying,  the  sightless  beggars,  we  are  told, 
cried  the  more,  saying:  "Have  mercy  on  us,  0  Lord, 
thou  Son  of  David!" 

The  miracles  of  our  Lord  and  the  record  of  them 
serve  three  purposes.  In  the  first  place,  as  evidences 
of  his  power  over  nature,  they  authenticate  his  claims 
as  a  Teacher  sent  from  God.  In  the  second  place, 
since  most  of  them  are  miracles  of  blessing,  they 
are  intended  to  reveal  his  mercy  to  men.  And  in 
the  third  place,  they  illustrate  truths  and  facts  and 
methods  connected  with  his  gracious   dealings,  and 


PRAYING  THE  MORE  BECAUSE  DOUBTING.     323 

with  the  approach  of  men  to  Him  for  the  mercy  and 
the  grace  they  need.  In  other  words,  they  are  en- 
acted parables  and  discourses.  It  is  in  this  third 
aspect  of  it,  that  I  shall  treat  the  incident  from 
which  I  have  taken  my  text.  Thus  regarded,  the 
incident  is  full  of  interest,  and  we  shall  be  instructed 
and  strengthened,  I  trust,  by  making  it  the  subject 
of  this  morning's  study.  There  are  three  related 
topics  on  which  I  shall  speak:  man  crying  to  God 
in  prayer  and  tempted  to  desist;  the  proper  conduct 
of  man  when  thus  tempted — he  should  cry  the  more; 
and  the  considerations  which  should  make  this  con- 
duct ours. 

I.  First,  then,  we  have  here  a  picture  of  man  cry- 
ing to  God  in  prayer,  and  tempted  to  desist. 

TlTe  blind  men,  having  heard  of  Jesus,  of  his  power 
to  give  sight,  and  of  his  willingness  to  exert  this 
power,  and  having  learned  that  this  hope  of  the 
poor  and  needy  was  in  the  city,  and  would  soon 
leave  by  a  certain  gate,  of  course  hastened  to  it; 
and,  as  their  quick  ears  caught  the  sound  of  foot- 
steps which  indicated  his  approach,  they  did  the 
most  natural  thing  in  the  world, — they  cried  out 
in  prayer:  "Have  mercy  on  us,  have  mercy  on 
us,  0  Lord,  thou  Son  of  David!"  JSTo  doubt  the 
words,  "thou  Son  of  David,"  grated  harshly  on 
the  ears  of  the  priests  and  the  enemies  of  Christ. 
No  doubt,  also,  the  disciples  of  Christ  felt  that  a 
procession  like  theirs  should  not  be  interrupted  by 
the  loud  and  anxious  voices  of  the  mendicants.  And 
therefore,  Bartimeus  and  his  companion  were  told  to 
hold  their  peace.  Pharisees  said:  "This  is  no  Son  of 
David,  but  a  Galilean  peasant."  And  disciples  said : 
"This  is  no  time  to  trouble  the  Master;  hinder  Him 
not,  with  your  private  griefs,  from  hastening  to  the 


324  SERMONS    ON    THE    CHRISTIAN    LIFE. 

Holy  City  to  seize  his  rightful  throne."  One  said: 
"lie  will  not  heal  you,  because  He  can  not."  And 
another  said:  "He  will  not  heal  you,  because  the 
hour  is  not  propitious."  And  it  would  have  been 
no  wonder  if  the  blind  men,  influenced  by  these 
calls  to  desist,  had  ceased  their  praying  and  remained 
in  darkness  all  their  lives. 

So  are  all  of  us  tempted  to  desist  from  crying  to 
God,  whenever  we  approach  Him  in  the  spirit  of 
real  prayer.  I  say  the  spirit  of  real  prayer ;  for  if^ 
instead  of  praying,  we  only  "  say  our  prayers,"  we 
shall  not  thus  be  tempted  to  desist.  The  tempter 
does  not  esteem  it  worth  his  while  to  hold  back  a 
man  from  "  using  vain  repetitions  as  the  heathen 
do."  Why  should  he?  The  man  is  doing  the 
tempter's  own  work.  But  if  we  pray;  if  out  of 
a  sense  of  need  like  that  felt  by  these  blind  beg- 
gars, and  in  faith  and  hope  like  those  which  drove 
them  to  the  gate  of  Jericho,  we  cry  from  the  depths 
of  our  hearts;  then,  let  us  be  sure,  we  shall  be 
told  to  hold  our  peace,  not  only  by  the  devil,  but 
by  the  world  and  flesh  as  well.  Who  does  not 
know  this?  Who  has  not  heard  in  his  heart  the 
suggestion  not  to  pray,  as  clearly  as  if  it  had  been 
audibly  syllabled?  It  is  these  suggestions,  springing 
out  of  our  own  hearts,  pressed  upon  us  by  our  asso- 
ciation with  the  world,  and  inspired,  some  of  them, 
as  I  verily  believe,  by  another  order  of  beings,  that 
make  real  prayer  so  hard  a  spiritual  exercise.  For 
there  is  nothing  hard  in  prayer,  in  itself  considered. 
Prayer  is  not  only  rational ;  it  is  instinctive.  Every 
man  naturally  cries  to  God  in  his  extremity.  Every 
man  feels  spiritual  wants  that  he  knows  he  can  not 
himself  supply.  And  whenever  the  word  is  spoken : 
"  Pray  to  God,"  and  he  hears  the  assurance :  "  God 


•   PRAYING  THE  MORE  BECAUSE  DOUBTING.     325 

is  more  willing  to  answer  than  earthly  parents  are 
to  give  good  gifts  unto  their  children,"  he  must  be 
something  else  than  human  if  he  does  not  feel  a 
strong  impulse  to  lift  up  his  voice  in  earnest  petition 
to  his  Father  in  heaven. 

But  let  him  act  in  accordance  with  this  impulse, 
and  he  will  find  himself  full  of  voices  commanding  or 
enticing  him  to  desist.  Why,  he  will  be  asked  by  him- 
self, should  he  trouble  himself  with  spiritual  wants? 
Let  him  eat  and  drink;  let  him  take  what  the  world 
affords  him,  and  leave  his  spirit  to  be  cared  for  in  the 
spiritual  world.  Or  the  thought  will  arise  within  him : 
"  God  does  not  hear  me;  I  have  no  ground  for  believing 
that  He  answers  prayer.  Indeed,  He  is  infinite  and 
unchangeable,  and  my  words  can  not  alter  his  perfect 
plans,  or  change  the  movements  of  his  invariable 
laws."  Or  he  will  be  beset  by  suggestions  of  his 
own  sinfulness,  and  the  impossibility  of  his  being  re- 
garded favorably  by  a  God  who  is  of  purer  eyes 
than  to  behold  iniquity.  Or,  as  often  happens,  in  the 
midst  of  his  earnest  petition,  he  will  be  tempted  to 
cease  by  the  consideration  that  God  is  omniscient; 
that  He  knows  man's  wants  without  prayer.  Why 
should  man  cry  to  Him?  Is  not  prayer  the  veriest 
mockery  in  which  one  can  engage?  Who,  that  re- 
calls his  own  spiritual  history,  does  not  know  that 
by  voices  and  suggestions,  like  these  which  I  have 
named,  the  tempted  man  is  at  times  brought  to  a  state 
in  which  prayer  is  the  hardest  of  spiritual  exercises 
to  carry  forward  in  sincerity ;  a  state  in  which  God 
seems  to  be  nothing,  or,  at  least,  nothing  to  him; 
a  state  in  which  the  firmament  is  for  him  only  a 
brazen  and  impenetrable  vault?  Then  arises  the  ter- 
rible danger,  that  the  human  spirit  will  surrender  in 
spiritual  conflict,  and  renew  allegiance  to  the  world 


326  SERMONS    ON    THE    CHRISTIAN   LIFE. 

and  sense  and  sin.  I  say,  that  it  is  no  uncommon 
experience — this  experience  of  temptation,  made 
strong  by  a  multitude  of  considerations,  to  desist 
from  crying  to  God  in  prayer.  From  Jacob  the  wres- 
tler onward,  every  earnest  spiritual  man  has  felt  the 
temptation.  Augustine,  Luther,  Baxter,  Edwards 
and  Payson  all  record  it  as  part  of  their  experience. 
It  is  just  this  experience,  which,  in  our  day,  fur- 
nishes ground  for  the  assertion,  that  Christian  living 
is  still  the  "  good  fight  of  faith."  We  do  not  wrestle 
now,  as  our  predecessors  did,  with  hostile  gov- 
ernments and  persecuting  heathen.  So  far  as  ex- 
terior and  conventional  Christianity  is  concerned, 
nothing  could  be  more  respectable.  It  is  the  cultus 
of  the  times  and  the  nation.  One's  standing  in  so- 
ciety and  one's  reputation  among  his  associates  are 
rather  helped  than  hurt  by  his  connection  with  the 
Church  of  God.  But  it  is  true,  nevertheless,  that 
there  never  was  a  time,  when  the  movement  of  per- 
sonal Christianity  was  more  distinctly  marked  "by 
all  the  arduousness  of  a  battle  in  its  progress,  and  by 
all  the  glory  of  a  victory  in  its  termination."  For 
never  has  there  been  a  time  when  the  seen  has  so  ob- 
trusively asserted  itself  as  against  the  unseen,  and  the 
temporal  so  engrossed  men  to  the  exclusion  of  the 
eternal.  Science,  literature,  civilization,  language, 
art — all  the  interests  and  implements  and  employ- 
ments of  modern  life — sometimes  seem  to  me  to  be 
the  selected  instruments  of  the  subtilest  and  evilest 
of  created  beings,  to  tempt  men  away  from  the  belief 
that  the  living  God  is  their  Father,  and  to  constrain 
them  to  desist  from  crying  to  God.  And,  therefore, 
for  a  man  to  live  a  life  of  real  prayer,  to  bring  his 
spiritual  and  temporal  wants,  habitually  and  sin- 
cerely and  believingly,  to  his  heavenly  Father,  is  to 


PRAYING  THE  MORE  BECAUSE  DOUBTING.     327 

engage  in  a  veritable  combat;  and  a  combat,  the 
more  fierce  and  the  more  difficult  to  wage  success- 
ful, just  because  he  wrestles  not  against  flesh  and 
blood,  but  against  enemies  far  more  insidious,  against 
doubts  and  habits  of  mind,  which,  I  must  believe, 
are  the  last  resort  and  the  consummate  artifice  of 
principalities  and  powers,  of  the  rulers  of  the  dark- 
ness of  this  world.  0  friends,  if  the  temptation  of 
which  I  am  speaking  has  assailed  you,  believe  me 
.that  you  are  in  no  slight  danger.  And  if  you  have 
ever  yielded  to  it,  you  have  put  yourselves  in  im- 
minent peril  of  that  awful  condition,  in  which  men 
are  past  all  spiritual  feeling,  and  are  doomed  to  what 
the  Bible  calls  the  second  death. 

II.  And,  therefore,  it  becomes  us  seriously  to  ask, 
how,  when  it  assails  us,  is  the  temptation  to  be  met? 
How  are  we  to  resist  these  doubts  and  suggestions 
that  induce  us  to  cease  from  prayer?  In  order  to 
answer  this  question,  let  us  revert  to  the  narrative. 
The  two  blind  beggars  were  assaulted  by  this  very 
temptation.  The  multitude  interrupted  them,  and 
bade  them  hold  their  peace.  How  did  they  resist  it  ? 
They  cried  the  more.  And  this,  brethren,  is  at  once 
the  Biblical  and  the  ouly  philosophical  method  of 
resisting  the  same  temptation  to-day.  When  tempted 
to  desist,  "  let  us  cry  the  more." 

You  can  easily  imagine  another  mode  of  dealing 
with  this  temptation.  You  can  imagine  a  man — borne 
down  by  the  force  of  a  habit  that  hinders  his  growth 
in  holiness — bringing  the  habit  to  God  in  prayer, 
and  asking  for  strength  to  enable  him  to  conquer  it. 
But  as  he  cries  to  God,  doubts  as  to  the  efficacy  of 
prayer  suggest  themselves.  The  burdened  soul  thus 
tempted  to  desist,  says:  "I  will  postpone  my  pray- 
ing until  I  shall  have  dissolved  my  doubts."     The 


*s 


328  SERMONS    ON    TIIE    CHRISTIAN    LIFE. 

mode  which  I  propose  for  your  adoption  is  the  mode 
adopted  by  these  blind  men;  in  spite  of  doubt  and 
temptation  of  whatever  kind,  still  to  urge  the  peti- 
tion ;  and  because  of  the  temptation  itself,  to  cry  so 
much  the  more.  This  I  believe  to  be  the  only  safety 
of  the  imperiled  soul.  At  any  rate,  regarded  as  con- 
duct, it  is  both  Biblical  and  philosophical. 

It  is  Biblical,  I  say.  It  is  supported  by  the  great 
promise  of  the  Son  of  God :  "  He  that  will  do  the 
will  of  God  shall  know  of  the  doctrine."  What  is 
the  meaning  of  these  words  of  the  Master,  but  that 
obedience  is  the  organ  of  spiritual  knowledge;  that 
the  one  divinely  appointed  method  of  dissipating 
doubts  and  of  destroying  the  force  of  temptation, 
is  bravely  and  persistently  to  continue  walking  on 
the  path  of  revealed  duty.  It  is  as  if  the  great 
Teacher  had  said:  "Do  not  wait  until  duty  has 
fully  commended  itself  to  your  understanding,  before 
practicing  it;  do  not  postpone  its  performance  until 
you  are  able  to  answer  all  objections.  Let  it  be 
enough  to  know  that  it  is  my  will.  Then  while 
you  are  performing  it  the  doubts  will  be  dissipated; 
the  objections  will  be  answered  in  your  experience; 
you  will  see  the  duty's  reasonableness;  you  will 
know  the  doctrine,  that  it  is  of  God."  It  was  pre- 
cisely in  accordance  with  the  spirit  of  these  words 
of  Christ,  that  the  blind  men  acted.  We  can  not 
doubt,  that  it  would  have  been  impossible  for  them  to 
reply  to  all  the  reasons  that  Pharisee  or  disciple 
might  have  urged  against  praying  to  Christ  at  this 
time.  Had  they  engaged  in  argument  with  the  doubts 
thus  raised,  they  would  have  desisted  from  pray- 
ing, and  would  have  failed  to  obtain  the  incalculable 
boon  they  sought.  But  instead  of  this,  they  persisted 
in  their  cries.    To  all  argument,  and  to  all  command  to 


PRAYING  THE  MORE  BECAUSE  DOUBTING.     329 

be  silent,  they  replied  effectively  with  more  vehement 
solicitation,  until  the  Lord  spake  the  word  of  power, 
and  gave  them  the  blessing  that  they  sought. 

And  just  this,  if  I  rightly  read  his  Word,  is  what 
God  would  have  us  do  in  respect  to  prayer.  We 
can  not  prevent  these  temptations ;  we  can  not 
hinder  these  suggestions  of  doubt.  If  I  may  so 
say,  they  are  in  the  atmosphere  we  breathe.  The 
"times"  are  favorable  to  them;  our  own  hearts  are 
by  nature  hospitable  to  them;  the  engrossments  of 
this  world  help  to  give  them  force;  Christianity,  as 
a  personal  experience,  would  not  be  the  sore  combat 
that  it  is  but  for  them ;  we  can  not  expect  to  be 
freed  from  the  temptation  of  them,  nor  can  we  take 
time  to  answer  them  as  they  arise.  Perhaps  we  have 
not  the  ability  or  the  culture  required  for  an  ade- 
quate reply.  But  this  we  can  do ;  and  this,  both  the 
example  of  Bartimeus  and  the  promise  of  Christ  call 
us  to  do.  We  can  oppose  them  with  more  vigorous 
prayer;  we  can  lift  up  our  voices  in  more  earnest 
petition;  the  darker  the  clouds  above  us,  the  more 
piercing  can  become  the  voices  of  our  longing  souls. 
"We  can  cry  the  more."  And  unless  the  words  of 
Christ  be  false  we  shall  gain  the  victory.  Prayer 
will  not  only  be  answered,  but  temptation  will  be- 
come innoxious,  and  doubt  will  die.  Faith  will  re- 
vive, and  God  as  our  Father  and  answering  Friend 
will  manifest  Himself  anew  to  us,  as  He  does  not 
unto  the  world.  I  do  not  hesitate  to  say,  that  be- 
cause of  the  use  of  this  very  weapon  of  persistent 
loyalty  to  duty,  triumph  has  issued  from  many  a 
spiritual  conflict,  which  otherwise  would  have  re- 
sulted in  terrible  defeat.  Many  a  Jacob  has  thus 
come  out  of  a  night  of  prayer,  "Israel,  a  prince  of 
God."     And  be  sure  that   if  you   are  thus    faithful 


330  SERMONS    ON    THE    CHRISTIAN    LIFE. 

when  faith  is  attacked ;  if  you  continue  to  cry,  even 
when  you  must  cry  out  of  the  depths  of  doubt;  if 
you  pray  so  much  the  more,  even  when  tempted  to 
doubt  prayer  and  God  alike,  you  also  will  triumph, 
and  your  soul  will  be  saved. 

For  observe,  that  not  only  is  this  the  Biblical 
method  of  attacking  doubt  and  temptation,  but  it 
is  also  the  philosophical  method.  Loyalty  to  duty, 
even  when  its  reason  is  not  understood,  is  the 
surest  and  the  swiftest  method  of  reaching  a  com- 
prehension of  it.  Is  it  not  true,  that  in  matters 
of  education,  for  example,  the  one  right  method  is 
to  begin  with  practice  and  so  to  ascend  to  theory  ? 
You  are  teaching  your  little  one  the  alphabet.  Do 
you  desist  until  you  can  satisfy  your  child's  mind 
as  to  the  usefulness  of  the  characters  whose  config- 
uration he  is  learning?  You  are  not  so  irrational. 
On  the  contrary,  in  spite  of  his  doubts  you  persist 
and  you  compel  him  to  persist,  knowing  that  the 
quickest  way  to  dissipate  his  doubts  is  to  hold  him 
to  what  seems  to  him  an  unmeaning  task.  Or  per- 
mit me  to  take  an  example  from  my  own  profes- 
sional experience.  There  are  times  when  I  am  phys- 
ically well,  and  yet  when,  in  preparing  myself  to 
speak  from  the  pulpit,  I  find  my  mind  infertile,  my 
thoughts  moving  sluggishly,  and  the  composition  of 
a  sermon  the  hardest  and  most  distasteful  of  tasks. 
Now  what  is  the  one  rational,  the  one  philosoph- 
ical method  of  overcoming  the  temptation  to  post- 
pone  my  appropriate  labor  to  a  more  convenient 
season?  "What,  but  in  spite  of  all  infertility  and 
sluggishness,  faithfully  to  engage  in  my  appointed 
work.  And  I  am  telling  what  has  been  my  experi- 
ence scores  of  times,  when  I  say  that  the  one  way 
to  overcome  obstacles  to  composition  is,  in  spite  of 


PRAYING  THE  MORE  BECAUSE  DOUBTING.     331 

reluctance,  to  engage  in  the  work  with  redoubled 
diligence.  The  same  thing  is  true  of  moral  actions. 
There  is  many  a  man  who  finds  beneficence  a  terribly 
difficult  duty.  It  is  the  easiest  thing  in  the  world  to 
call  up  the  most  specious  objections  to  its  perform- 
ance. It  is  hard  not  to  postpone  it  indefinitely. 
Doubts  as  to  its  efficacy,  the  temptations  of  selfish- 
ness, and  a  host  of  other  difficulties  oppose  one's 
Christian  instinct  to  do  good  as  he  has  opportunity. 
And  over  and  above  them  all  will  come  the  sugges- 
tion: "Well,  even  if  I  do  give  against  all  these  op- 
posing feelings,  my  giving  will  not  be  the  expression 
of  benevolence."  Now  if,  in  spite  of  them,  the  man 
is  simply  loyal  to  duty;  if,  courageously  and  by  a 
painful  effort,  he  acts  in  accordance  with  his  be- 
nevolent impulse,  who  does  not  know  that  these 
temptations  will  soon  lose  their  force,  and  that  what 
he  began  as  a  severe  duty,  will  become  a  privilege, 
in  whose  exercise  he  will  learn  how  far  more  blessed 
it  is  to  give  than  to  receive!  Thus  man  learns  that 
in  the  keeping  of  God's  commands  there  is  great 
reward.  Thus  he  learns  the  law,  which  underlies 
Christ's  words  :  "He  that  will  do  my  will,  shall  know 
of  the  doctrine." 

It  is  just  this  great  law,  operative  in  all  depart- 
ments of  human  life,  that  I  would  have  you  apply 
to  the  characteristic  act  and  habit  of  the  Christian 
life;  the  act  and  habit  of  earnest  prayer  to  God.  Of 
course  there  are  temptations  to  desist  from  praying. 
They  are  many,  and  they  are  mighty.  Your  flesh, 
your  business,  your  mind,  your  associations  with  the  \/ 
world,  your  sinfulness  and  the  great  enemy  of  your 
souls  unite  in  bidding  you  hold  your  peace,  just  as 
Pharisees  and  disciples  united  to  restrain  blind  Bar- 
timeus    and    his    friend    from   crying    to   the   Great 


332  SERMONS    ON   THE    CHRISTIAN   LIFE. 

Physician  and  Redeemer.  What  shall  you  do?  O, 
friends,  what  but  follow  the  example  of  these  blind 
men,  and  on  your  bended  knees,  and  out  of  your 
burdened  souls,  cry  again  and  again — cry  the  more: 
"Lord,  have  mercy  on  us."  There  are  repetitions 
that  are  not  vain.  And  repetitions  like  these  are  by 
no  means  in  vain.  The  Bible,  Christian  experience 
and  the  constitution  of  man  unite  in  proclaiming 
this  to  be  the  one  method  of  conquering  doubt,  and 
of  cleaving  a  way  to  a  position  iu  which  we  shall 
find  prayer  a  constant  power,  a  never-failing  delight. 

III.  And  that  I  may  further  commend  this  habit 
to  you,  let  me,  finally,  reinforce  what  I  have  said, 
by  simply  naming  some  other  considerations  which 
should  lead  you  to  adopt  it. 

Is  not  prayer,  let  me  ask,  an  instinct  of  the  soul  ? 
"What  is  more  natural  to  a  human  being,  when  all  his 
own  resources  have  failed,  than  to  cry  to  God?  Doubt 
as  you  will  prayer's  efficacy,  you  will  never  destroy 
the  ineffaceable  instinct  which  will  at  last  drive  you 
in  extremity  of  body  or  spirit  to  the  Most  High. 
Is  not  prayer  God's  appointed  means  of  obtaining 
aid  from  Him?  What  words  could  be  more  clear 
than  the  words  of  Christ :  "  Every  one  that  asketh 
receiveth,  and  he  that  seeketh  findeth,  and  to  him 
that  knocketh  it  shall  be  opened"?  Is  it  not  the 
one  rational  means?  Speculate  as  we  will,  there 
can  not  be  a  more  reasonable  method  of  seeking 
the  spiritual  or  temporal  benefits  we  need  but  which 
we  have  not  power  to  obtain  for  ourselves,  than  the 
method  of  asking  them  of  Him  who  is  Head  over 
all  things.  Nay,  rational  or  irrational,  is  it  not  the 
only  means?  What  are  we  to  do  about  the  groat 
facts  of  sin  and  death  and  the  looking  for  of  judg- 
ment, if  we  are  not  to  pray  to  God?     And,  finally, 


PRAYING  THE  MORE  BECAUSE  DOUBTING.     333 

has  not  Christ  Himself  indicated  that  He  places  the 
highest  value  on  importunate  prayer,  on  this  "cry- 
ing the  more"?  Is  not  just  this  the  lesson  of  the 
story  of  these  blind  men?  Is  not  just  this  the  mean- 
ing of  the  miracle  wrought  for  the  Syrophceuician 
woman  ?  And  what  but  this  is  the  great  lesson 
that  He  would  teach  us  in  the  parable  of  the  im- 
portunate widow  and  the  unjust  judge? 

My  hearers,  there  is  no  more  imminent  or  terrible 
danger  than  just  this  danger  of  desisting  from  prayer, 
when  tempted  to  do  so.  There  is  but  one  way  to 
resist  temptation  and  to  overcome  doubt,  and  that 
is  to  pray  the  more.  Our  Christian  life,  so  far  as  it 
is  active,  will  become  weak  and  ineffective  unless 
we  pray.  That  is  an  eloquent  passage,  in  which  the 
great  Apostle  to  the  Gentiles  portrays  the  Chris- 
tian, panoplied  in  the  armor  and  bearing  the 
weapons  of  a  soldier  of  the  Roman  legion.  How 
suggestive  of  the  number  and  prowess  of  the  foes 
of  our  spiritual  life!  How  vividly  it  brings  before 
us  our  danger!  And  yet,  one  would  suppose  that 
the  armor  of  defense  and  the  weapons  of  offense 
were  in  themselves  sufficient.  The  shield  of  faith, 
the  helmet  of  salvation,  and  the  sword  of  the  Spirit; 
are  not  these  enough  to  obtain  for  us  the  victory? 
So  thought  not  the  great  and  inspired  Apostle.  He 
knew  the  foes.  He  had  known  doubt.  lie  had 
been  in  the  thickest  of  the  fight  against  princi- 
palities and  powers;  and,  therefore,  he  added  to  his 
exhortation  to  take  the  whole  armor  of  God,  this 
other  exhortation,  without  obedience  to  which  all 
else  will  be  found  to  fail:  "Praying  always,  with  all 
prayer  and  supplication,  in  the  spirit."  I  repeat 
his  exhortation  to-day.  I  bid  you  recall  your  past 
experience.     What    victories    have    you    won    over 


334  SERMONS    ON    THE    CHRISTIAN   LIFE. 

appetite  and  passion  worth  naming,  that  you  did  not 
win  by  the  power  of  earnest  prayer?  What  growth 
have  you  attained,  that  you  did  not  attain  hy  call- 
ing upon  God?  What  temptations  have  you  suc- 
cessfully resisted,  what  graces  cultivated,  what  spir- 
itual joy  achieved,  when  not  aided  by  earnest  and 
importunate  wrestling  with  God  in  solitude?  And 
now,  when  tempted  to  give  it  up,  by  the  devil  or  the 
world  or  the  appetites  of  the  flesh  or  the  doubts  that 
float  before  you,  will  you  yield  in  the  face  of  your 
experience;  in  opposition  to  God's  word;  in  spite 
of  the  instincts  of  your  soul,  and  against  sound  phi- 
losophy ?  What  madness !  O  brethren,  by  the  value 
of  your  immortal  souls,  by  the  glories  of  the  right- 
eousness you  may  achieve  in  Christ,  dare  not  yield 
to  these  beguilements.  Recall  these  blind  men  by 
the  gate  of  Jericho,  and  when  bidden  to  hold  your 
peace,  cry  the  more ;  cry  the  more !  And  you  shall 
know  that  prayer  is  no  mockery  >•  that  God  hears  and 
responds   and  blesses  and  saves. 

It  is  because  God  reveals  Himself  as  the  prayer- 
hearing,  the  responsive  God,  that  as  a  minister  of 
his  Word  I  dare  to  offer  Him,  as  a  Saviour,  to  in- 
dividual men  and  women ;  to  individual  men  and 
women,  I  say.  This  plan  of  redemption  is  no  gen- 
eral system  of  salvation  that  regards  masses  only. 
If  it  were  such  a  system,  I  could  not  speak  to  you, 
as  individuals,  in  words  of  hope.  You  might  reply 
to  me:  "What  to  me  would  be  the  redemption  of 
the  masses,  if  I  were  left  out?"  You  will  not  be  left 
out,  if  only  you  will  cry  to  Him.  The  Redeemer 
is  marching  in  triumphal  procession  to  Jerusalem. 
Crowds  attend  Him.  But  suddenly  two  blind  beg- 
gars seated  by  the  gate  of  Jericho  cry  to  Him  in 
prayer:  "Have  mercy  on  us."     Does  He  reply:  "I 


PRAYING  THE  MORE  BECAUSE  DOUBTING.     335 

must  go  on  to  Jerusalem,  to  fulfill  my  great  work 
for  the  masses  of  humanity;  I  can  not  stop  to  attend 
to  the  wants  of  two  poor  beggars  ? "  So  thought 
the  multitude.  And  they  bid  the  blind  men  hold 
their  peace.  Not  so  the  Son  of  God.  His  redemp- 
tion is  for  individual  souls;  and,  therefore,  the  blind 
are  healed,  and  follow  Him  rejoicing.  So  is  it  now. 
Think  not  that  in  the  vastness  of  his  realm,  He  can 
not  or  will  not  regard  you,  if  you  cry  to  Him.  Say 
not:  "My  way  is  hid  from  the  Lord,  and  my  judg- 
ment is  passed  ove*r  from  my  God."  The  govern- 
ment of  the  universe  is,  indeed,  on  his  shoulder. 
He  binds  the  sweet  influences  of  the  Pleiades  and 
looses  the  bands  of  Orion: 

"His  state 
Is  kingly:  thousands  at  his  bidding  speed, 
And  post  o'er  land  and  ocean  without  rest." 

But  his  consummate  greatness  is  in  his  condescen- 
sion. Not  a  sparrow  falls  without  Him.  There  is 
no  being  so  small  that  He  will  not  heed  him.  Be- 
take yourself,  O  wearied,  blind,  and  sinful  soul,  to 
Him.  Cry:  "Lord,  have  mercy  on  me;  have  mercy 
on  me!"  And  when  doubts  and  temptations  bid 
you  hold  your  peace,  cry  the  more.  And  you  will 
hear  his  words:  "What  wilt  thou  that  I  shall  do 
unto  thee?"  You  will  feel  the  touch  of  the  hand 
that  was  pierced.  A  new  sight  will  be  given  you. 
A  new  world  will  be  open  to  you.  And  right  be- 
fore you,  as  before  Bartimeus  of  old,  in  the  glory 
of  his  infinite  grace,  you  will  behold  your  loving 
and  healing  Physician,  your  redeeming  and  omnip- 
otent God. 


XXII. 
CASTING  CARE  ON  GOD. 

"  Casting  all  your  care  upon  Him ;  for  He  careth  for  you." — 
I.  Peter  v,  7. 

This  Epistle  was  addressed  not  to  any  church  or 
churches,  but  to  individual  Christians.  "When,  there- 
fore, the  writer  says :  "  God  careth  for  you,"  the  par- 
ticular truth  which  he  announces  is  not  God's  watch- 
fulness over  a  mass  of  men,  but  his  care  for  individu- 
als. The  writer  of  the  Epistle  is  the  Apostle  Peter. 
As  Peter  is  portrayed  in  the  Gospels,  he  is  most  dis- 
tinctly marked  by  his  oscillation  between  the  two  ex- 
tremes of  rash  self-confidence  and  timorous  anxiety. 
It  is  Peter  who  is  bold  enough  to  attempt  to  walk  on 
the  water;  but  he  has  scarcely  touched  the  yielding 
element,  when  he  cries  out  in  fear :  "  Lord,  save  me, 
I  perish ! "  It  is  Peter  who  alone  dares  to  follow 
Christ  to  the  High  Priest's  palace;  but  he  is  no 
sooner  accused  of  fellowship  with  Christ,  than  he 
denies  Him  with  cursing.  It  is  clear,  however,  from 
this  exhortation,  that  his  spiritual  habit  has  under- 
gone an  entire  revolution.  Here  is  no  timorous 
anxiety  about  the  future,  for  he  casts  away  all  care. 

(336) 


CASTING   CARE   ON   GOD.  337 

At  the  same  time  there  is  no  rash  confidence  in  him- 
self, for  he  casts  his  care  on  God. 

It  would  be  interesting  and  instructive  to  take  up 
the  life  of  Peter,  and  study  the  progress  of  this  rev- 
olution, the  causes  which  effected  it,  and  the  inci- 
dents by  which  it  was  marked.  But  this  morning, 
I  desire  not  so  much  to  illustrate  my  theme  by  a 
reference  to  Peter's  career,  as  to  make  it  practical 
by  referring  to  your  own.  Both  the  interest  and 
importance  of  the  subject  on  which  I  purpose  to 
speak  to-day,  are  due  to  the  fact  that  our  lives  are 
such,  and  our  minds  are  so  constituted,  that  we  are  a 
prey  to  continual  anxiety.  I  suppose  that  the  unhap- 
piness  of  men  and  women  is  due  far  more  largely 
to  what  they  fear  than  to  what  they  experience.  It 
is  the  evils  which  impend  rather  than  the  disas- 
ters which  occur,  that  make  the  soul  sorrowful  and 
the  countenance  sad.  When  the  worst  has  come  and 
passed;  when  the  financial  panic  has  swept  away 
property,  or  the  loved  one  has  been  carried  to  his  last 
resting  place,  the  soul  of  man  begins  to  regather  its 
powers,  and,  though  chastened  and  sad,  looks  to  the 
future  not  without  hope.  This  is  neither  so  destruc- 
tive in  its  influence  on  happiness,  nor  so  continuous 
as  that  anxious  look  toward  the  future  which  we  call 
by  so  many  names.  "When  I  simply  repeat  the  words ; 
fear,  foreboding,  dread,  anxiety,  apprehension,  solic- 
itude, alarm,  concern,  care, — I  make  evident,  that, 
by  multiplying  synonyms,  we  confess  the  universal- 
ity and  the  misery  of  the  feeling.  It  is  not  so  much 
the  present  as  it  is  the  future — big  with  evils  whose 
vastncss  we  can  not  measure,  with  evils  often  exag- 
gerated by  excited  imaginations — that  depresses  or 
distresses  us.  Are  you  parents?  You  would  gladly 
endure  far  greater  pain  than  that  which  you  suffer 


338  SERMONS    ON   THE    CHRISTIAN   LIFE. 

now,  if  only  you  could  be  sure  that  your  children's 
lives  will  be  all  that  you  desire.  Are  you  in  busi- 
ness? It  is  not  mere  work,  mental  or  physical,  that 
is  breaking  you  down.  If  you  are  breaking,  you 
know  that  you  are  succumbing  to  anxiety  in  view  of 
dreaded  contingencies  that  may  arise;  contingencies 
of  which  you  have  no  certain  knowledge,  and  over 
which  you  can  exercise  no  certain  control.  Day  after 
day,  we  live  in  suspense  more  or  less  painful.  No 
man  can  say,  I  am  wholly  free  from  it.  The  future 
grows  darker  with  multiplying  ghosts  of  ill,  while  he 
is  advancing  from  youth  to  manhood,  or  moving  for- 
ward from  manhood  to  old  age.  And,  as  for  the  future 
life,  unless  either  by  sheer  skepticism  or  by  faith  in 
Christ  he  can  sweep  them  away,  it  is  filled  with 
shapes  of  evil;  for  there  is  in  every  sinful  soul  "a 
fearful  looking  for  of  judgment  and  fiery  indigna- 
tion." And  thus  it  is,  that  our  forms  are  bent  too 
early,  and  our  faces  are  too  soon  corrugated,  and  we 
speak  of  ourselves  as  care-worn,  and  talk  of  the 
increasing  burdens  of  life,  and  confess  that,  notwith- 
standing the  blessings  of  God  which  are  crowded  on 
every  side  and  into  every  moment  of  our  lives,  it  is 
still  true  that  "  man  is  born  to  trouble  as  the  sparks 
to  fly  upward.") 

You  will  observe  that  I  am  speaking  not  of  out- 
ward  infliction,  but  of  an  inward  state.  It  is  a  habit 
of  mind  that  makes  outward  blessings  powerless  to 
bestow  happiness,  and  that  increases  the  power  of 
affliction.  If  there  were  no  remedy  for  this  state  of 
mind,  I  should  not  be  justified  in  speaking  of  it.  But 
the  remedy  I  bring  to-day,  is  the  truth  stated  and 
the  exhortation  addressed  to  Christians  by  the  Apos- 
tle Peter :  "  Casting  all  your  care  upon  Him ;  for  He 
careth  for  you." 


CASTING    CARE    ON    GOD.  339 

The  text,  as  I  have  said,  is  addressed  to  Christians. 
Let  no  one,  who  is  not  a  Christian,  complain  that 
the  comfort  it  contains  is  not  for  him.  Christ  is  of- 
fered to  all  of  us.  If  we  will  not  accept  Him,  what 
right  have  we  to  complain  that  the  consolations  of 
his  Gospel  are  denied  us  ?  The  fountain  of  life  is  flow- 
ing ;  what  right  have  we  to  complain  that  we  are 
dying  of  thirst,  if  we  will  not  drink?  The  way  to 
life  is  open,  plain  and  free;  what  right  have  we  to 
cry  out  against  God  if,  refusing  to  walk  thereon, 
we  do  not  reach  the  city  of  the  great  King?  The 
comfort  of  these  words  is  for  all  who  will  accept  it 
in  Christ,  in  whom  alone  God's  promises  are  ful- 
filled. Remembering  then,  that  though  they  are  ad- 
dressed to  Christians,  Christ  is  offered  to  all  men; 
let  us  attend,  first,  to  the  truth  announced  in  the 
text :  "  God  careth  for  you ; "  and,  secondly,  to  the 
exhortation :  "  Cast  all  your  care  upon  Him." 

I.  If  you  have  never  read  the  astronomical  dis- 
courses of  Thomas  Chalmers,  I  advise  you  to  do  so  at 
once.  I  shall  not  soon  forget  the  profound  impression 
made  on  me,  when,  for  the  first  time,  I  read  the  first 
of  them,  in  which  he  endeavors  to  make  real  to  the 
imagination  the  vastness  of  the  visible  universe,  and 
our  insignificance  before  the  Creator;  the  discourse 
in  which  occurs  the  passage:  "Though  this  earth 
were  to  be  burned  up,  though  the  trumpet  of  its  dis- 
solution were  sounded,  though  yon  sky  were  to  pass 
away  as  a  scroll,  and  every  visible  glory  which  the 
finger  of  Divinity  has  inscribed  on  it  were  to  be  put 
out  forever, — an  event  so  awful  to  us  and  to  every 
world  in  our  vicinity,  by  which  so  many  suns  would 
be  extinguished,  and  so  many  varied  scenes  of  life 
and  of  population  would  rush  into  forgetfulness, — 
what  is  it  in  the  high  scale  of  the  Almighty's  work- 


340  SERMONS    ON    TIIE    CHRISTIAN    LIFE. 

manship  ?  A  mere  slircd,  which,  though  scattered 
into  nothing,  would  leave  the  universe  of  God  one 
entire  scene  of  greatness  and  of  majesty."  It  was 
the  same  impression,  made  by  a  view  of  the  same 
firmament — though  his  vision  was  unaided  by  the 
modern  astronomy — that  evoked  from  the  Psalmist 
the  mournful  question :  "  When  I  consider  the  heav- 
ens the  work  of  thy  fingers,  what  is  man  that  Thou 
art  mindful  of  him?"  All  of  us  find  it  difficult  to 
believe,  that  in  the  vastness  of  his  realm  the  Ruler 
of  the  universe  takes  special  note  of  individual  men. 
Often  arises  the  complaint  now,  as  it  arose  of  old: 
"My  way  is  hid  from  the  Lord,  and  my  judgment 
is  passed  over  from  my  God."  The  thought  of  his 
regard  for  each  of  us  seldom  serves  to  abate  our 
wearing  anxiety. 

And  yet,  if  Christianity  is  true,  God  does  care 
for  each  man  every  moment  of  his  life.  Indeed, 
there  is  a  hint  of  this  in  nature.  I  have  quoted  from 
one,  permit  me  to  quote  from  another  of  the  dis- 
courses of  the  great  Scottish  divine.  In  the  third 
astronomical  discourse — the  discourse  on  "The  Ex- 
tent of  the  Divine  Condescension" — he  says,  that  "it 
was  the  telescope  which  enabled  us  in  some  degree 
to  realize  the  vastness  of  the  universe.  But  about 
the  time  of  its  invention,  another  instrument  was 
formed  which  rewarded  the  inquisitive  spirit  of 
man  with  a  scene  no  less  wonderful.  This  was 
the  microscope.  The  one  led  me  to  see  a  system 
in  every  star,  the  other  shows  me  a  world  in  every 
atom.  The  one  taught  me  that  this  mighty  globe, 
with  the  whole  burden  of  its  people  and  its  countries, 
is  but  a  grain  of  sand  on  the  high  field  of  immensity. 
The  other  teaches  me  that  every  grain  of  sand  may 
harbor  within  it  the  tribes   and   families  of  a  busy 


CASTING   CARE   ON   GOD.  341 

population.  The  one  tells  me  of  the  insignificance 
of  the  world  I  tread  upon.  The  other  redeems  it 
from  all  its  insignificance,  for  it  tells  me  that  in  the 
leaves  of  every  forest,  and  in  the  flowers  of  every 
garden,  and  in  the  waters  of  every  rivulet  there  are 
worlds  teeming  with  life  and  numberless  as  are  the 
glories  of  the  firmament."  Thus  if  the  observation 
of  the  universe  in  its  vastness  suggests  the  thought 
that  God's  Kingdom  is  too  great  to  justify  the  belief 
that  we  are  noticed  by  Him,  the  observation  of  any 
portion,  however  minute,  indicates  that  there  is  noth- 
ing too  small  for  his  constant  and  superintending 
care.  So  if  science  makes  faith  in  God's  care  diffi- 1 
cult,  science  offers  to  faith  abundant  aid. 

Moreover,  the  necessary  laws  of  thought  ought  to 
help  our  faith.  Our  conception  of  God  involves  his 
knowledge  of  each  of  his  creatures;  though  we  too 
often  think  of  Him  as  altogether  like  ourselves. 
How  little  we  know  of  our  fellows'  lives !  We  ob- 
serve an  action,  and  at  once,  we  begin  to  generalize 
from  it  about  the  character  of  the  man  who  commit- 
ted it;  and  we  are  tempted  to  suppose  that  a  like 
process  goes  on  in  the  mind  of  God.  A  little  reflec- 
tion, however,  would  impress  upon  our  minds  the 
truth,  that  if  there  is  a  God  who  designed  and  has 
created  the  universe,  He  must  possess  faculties  so 
perfect  as  to  discern  all  that  it  contains,  and  to  fore- 
see all  the  events  which  will  occur  in  its  career. 

But  much  as  faith  is  aided  by  science  and  the  laws 
of  thought, — it  is,  after  all,  the  assertions  of  the  Word 
of  God  which  constitute  faith's  warrant.  The  Bible 
everywhere  brings  into  view  a  God  who  notices  not 
all  only,  but  each  of  his  creatures.  His  care  of  them 
is  involved  in  the  truths  that  He  hears  prayer,  and 
that  He  will   reward   every  man   according  to   his 


342  SERMONS   ON    THE    CHRISTIAN   LIFE. 

work.  Ill  his  first  great  address  to  his  disciples, 
our  Lord  distinctly  asserts,  that  not  a  sparrow  falls 
without  his  Father's  notice,  and  that  the  hairs  of  our 
heads  are  numbered.  Each  act,  each  event,  each  joy 
and  sorrow,  every  plan  for  the  future,  every  circum- 
stance which  aids  in  making  up  the  history  of  the 
hour,  are  before  Him.  He  knows  all  and  directs  all,  in 
the  fulfillment  of  his  own  wise  and  loving  purposes. 
You  will  notice  again,  that  the  statement  is  not, 
God  careth  about  you,  but  God  careth  for  you.  If 
our  littleness  awakens  doubt  as  to  whether  God 
notices  us  at  all,  that  doubt  is  scarcely  dissipated 
before  another,  arising  from  our  sinfulness,  springs 
into  activity.  When  the  sense  of  sin  is  vivid,  we 
say  inevitably:  "God  may  indeed  notice  us,  but  that 
which  a  Holy  Being  must  notice  first  and  care  about 
the  most  is  our  sinfulness."  Whenever  the  human 
spirit  is  penetrated  with  the  truth,  so  often  insisted 
on  in  the  Bible,  that  God  can  not  look  on  sin  with 
allowance,  it  is  troubled.  Sinful  men  fly  from  the 
thought  of  God.  This  explains  the  well-known, 
though  not  always  confessed  disinclination  of  men 
to  pray.  The  hardest  invitation  to  accept,  is  that 
to  which  is  joined  the  most  gracious  assurance  in 
the  whole  Bible — the  assurance  that  our  crimson 
sin  will  be  made  white  as  snow.  It  is  hard  to  ac- 
cept, because  it  is  an  invitation  to  solemn  com- 
munion with  a  Holy  God:  "Come,  now,  and  let  us 
reason  together."  The  sense  of  sin  is  the  greatest 
foe  to  faith  in  God's  love.  But  this  is  the  assurance 
of  the  text:  that  God  cares  not  only  about  us  but 
for  us.  I  would  not  make  too  much  of  a  single  prep- 
osition; but  the  word  "for"  translates  a  preposi- 
tion which  puts  beyond  all  doubt  not  only  God's 
thought  of  men,  but  his  most  favorable  and  loving 


CASTING    CARE    ON   GOD.  343 

thought.  It  is  as  if  the  Apostle  had  said:  "Little 
though  you  are,  God  sees  your  individual  life;  and 
sinful  though  you  are,  his  loving  heart  throbs  still 
for  you  in  infinite  and  personal  affection."  0,  that 
we  could  grasp  this  truth  most  firmly  when  the 
thought  of  our  iniquity  threatens  to  overwhelm  us; — 
the  truth  that  perfect  as  God  is,  He  looks  on  us  as 
his  children ;  that,  wayward  and  unloving  and  un- 
caring as  He  often  finds  us,  the  eye,  that  slumbers 
not,  regards  us  with  more  than  parental  fondness, 
and  the  arm,  that  wearies  not,  is  always  active  in 
providing  and  protecting! 

But  we  have  not  yet  unfolded  the  whole  truth 
stated  in  the  text.  It  is  not  only  true  that  God 
cares  for  us,  although  we  are  weak  and  sinful;  He 
cares  for  us  because  of  our  weakness  and  sinful- 
ness. The  exact  truth  stated  by  the  Apostle  is 
brought  out  when  the  sentence  is  thus  paraphrased: 
"Because  you  can  not  care  for  yourselves;  because 
you  are  weak  and  sinful,  you  are  one  of  your  heav- 
enly Father's  anxieties."  For  the  Greek  verb,  trans- 
lated careth,  expresses  anxiety  when  used  in  the  form 
in  which  it  is  found  in  the  text.  And  the  figure 
which  forms  the  basis  of  this  comforting  declara- 
tion, is  that  of  a  Father  who,  not  having  to  think 
anxiously  of  most  of  his  children,  has  still  one  weak 
and  wayward  son,  who  fills  his  mind  with  anxious 
thoughts,  towards  whom  his  heart  goes  out  in  a  kind 
of  love  that  he  can  not  feel  for  the  rest;  and  for 
whose  protection  and  guidance  and  defense  and  final 
welfare  he  is,  therefore,  continuously  and  actively 
employed.  A  mother,  though  she  may  love  all  her 
children  equally,  does  not  care  for  them  equally,  is 
not  equally  anxious  about  them  all.  For  whom  is  it 
that  her  heart  throbs  with  anxiety?     For  whom  is 


844  SERMONS    ON    THE    CHRISTIAN    LIFE. 

it  that  with  tears  and  sighs  she  pleads  the  promises 
of  a  covenant  God  ?  Is  it  not  for  the  weak  and 
tempted  son — the  one  for  whom  enticements  seem 
too  strong?  It  is  for  him  that  her  care  is  active; 
and  it  is  active  just  because  he  is  weak  and  sinful. 
"When  I  think  of  the  mighty  and  the  holy  Gabriel, 
obedient  to  all  the  laws  which  God  has  ordained,  I 
do  not  think  of  God  as  anxiously  caring  for  him. 
He  is  in  harmony  with  the  whole  creation.  But 
when  I  think  of  a  man  tempted  by  sinful  passions, 
allured  by  the  world's  pleasures,  perplexed  by  doubts, 
bowed  in  the  dust  by  affliction,  I  easily  believe  that 
God  is  active  in  protecting  and  in  guiding  him,  to 
the  end  that  he  may  be  glorified  and  beatified. 

Instead  then  of  letting  our  weakness  and  sinful- 
ness lead  us  to  doubt,  the  thought  of  them  should 
deepen  our  faith  in  the  declaration :  "  God  careth  for 
you."  "We  are  not  orphans ;  we  are  the  accepted 
children  of  God.  The  way  before  us  is  often  dark. 
Our  feet  bleed  on  the  rough  pathway,  that  He  com- 
pels us  to  tread.  One  and  another  of  our  loved 
companions  vanish  from  our  sight  as  we  journey 
on  our  pilgrimage.  Often  we  mistake  mirage  for 
flowers  and  palms  and  fountains.  The  fierce  heat 
of  the  sun  scorches  us,  and  our  burdens  grow  more 
heavy ;  or  blinding  storms  sweep  across  the  plain, 
and  we  fear  that  God  has  forsaken  us  altogether. 
No,  friends!  God  cared  for  Israel  in  the  wilder- 
ness, in  a  sense  in  which  He  never  cared  for  the 
loftiest  of  the  angels.  And  He  cares  for  you  as  He 
cared  for  Israel  in  the  desert.  Because  you  need  his 
watchfulness,  He  watches  over  you.  Doubt  Him  not, 
but  trust  Him;  believe  his  words:  "I  will  never 
leave  you  or  forsake  you,"  and  cast  all  your  care 
upon  Him ;  for  He  careth  for  you. 


CASTING    CARE    ON    GOD.  345 

II.  But  if  God  cares  for  us,  what  have  we  to  do  ? 
And  the  text  makes  specific  reply :  "  Cast  all  your 
care  upon  Him." 

Here,  just  as  in  studying  the  truth  of  God's  care, 
we  shall  best  ascertain  our  duty  by  studying  the 
very  words  of  the  text.  And  first,  you  will  notice 
that  the  Apostle  advises  not  a  mere  flinging  away 
of  our  cares  to  the  winds,  an  indifference  to  our 
troubles  and  anxieties;  but  a  most  solemn  and  re- 
ligious laying  of  them  on  the  Most  High.  The 
meaning  of  the  text  is  not,  God  careth  for  you, 
therefore  fling  care  aside,  and  eat  and  drink  and  be 
merry;  but  God  careth  for  you,  therefore  cast  all 
your  cares  on  God.  There  is  a  striking  congruity 
between  the  truth  and  the  exhortation  which  we 
must  not  fail  to  notice.  Had  Peter  been  a  Stoic 
philosopher,  he  would  not  have  said :  "  God  careth  for 
you,"  but, "  You  are  in  the  hands  of  an  awful  system, 
of  which  physical  evil  is  a  part " ;  and  his  exhorta- 
tion would  not  have  been:  "Cast  your  care  on  God," 
but,  "  Oppose  to  the  inevitable  evil  the  fortitude  of  an 
unbroken  spirit."  Had  he  been  an  Epicurean,  he 
would  not  have  said :  "  God  careth  for  you,"  but, 
"  Chance  has  sent  these  evils.  Fight  chance  the  only 
way  in  which  you  can,  by  drowning  all  forgetfulness 
in  a  sea  of  pleasures."  But  he  was  neither  a  Stoic 
nor  an  Epicurean,  but  a  Christian,  and  as  the  truth 
he  uttered  was  Christian,  so  is  the  exhortation.  God 
is  our  Father;  He  loves  us  with  an  affection  past 
understanding.  If  we  are  perplexed,  and  anxious, 
let  us  trust  God  just  as  a  loving  child  trusts  its  parent. 
If  our  burdens  are  too  heavy  to  bear,  or  their  mean- 
ing too  dark  to  discern,  or  their  issue  too  far  in  the 
future  to  discover,  let  us  cast  them  on  God.  He  can 
bear  them,  and  He  will  bear  them.     His  heart  beats 


346  SERMONS    ON    THE    CHRISTIAN    LIFE. 

with  infinite  affection;  his  power  is  omnipotence;  his 
wisdom  is  perfect;  his  knowledge  is  omniscience. 
If  we  believe  the  truth,  do  we  obey  the  injunction? 
"What  is  our  habit  with  reference  to  the  things  that 
wear,  or  pain,  or  weary  us;  the  cares  that  seam  our 
faces,  and  bend  our  forms?  "Where  have  we  laid 
them?  Have  we  confided  them  to  friends?  Vain 
is  the  help  of  man.  Have  we  flung  them  to  the 
winds,  and  said,  in  our  impatience,  we  will  not  think 
of  them?  What  comfort  is  there  in  that?  They 
belong  to  God.  He  says  to  us,  "  Trust  them  to  me. 
Confide  in  me."  Have  you  done  so?  Have  you  cast 
your  care  on  God? 

Notice  again,  that  the  Apostle  does  not  exhort  us 
here  to  cast  our  separate  cares  upon  God,  but  to  cast 
our  whole  care  on  Him.  The  truth  in  the  Apostle's 
mind,  and  the  truth  that  should  be  in  our  own  minds, 
is  that  our  whole  life  is  one.  The  cares  with  which 
we  suffer  to-day,  and  those  with  which  we  suffered 
yesterday,  are  not  separate  units,  but  are  connected 
in  that  one  plan  of  God  which  binds  together  all  the 
events  of  life,  just  as  one  controlling  purpose  of  our 
own  dominates  and  reduces  to  unity  all  our  separate 
acts.  Now  the  Apostle  says  to  us:  "As  God  has  a 
plan  in  your  life,  which  in  his  providence  He  is  ful- 
filling; as  that  plan  was  devised  in  infinite  love; 
as  He  is  thus  not  only  overruling  each  separate  be- 
reavement and  loss  for  your  advantage,  but  is  mak- 
ing all  things  work  together  for  your  good ;  do 
not  deem  it  sufficient  to  take  each  care  to  Him  as 
a  separate  experience,  but  in  one  mighty  and  blessed 
and  all-including  act  of  trust  and  self-surrender,  cast 
all  your  care  on  God;  the  whole  of  life  with  all  its 
troubles  and  joys  and  unknown  issues."  To  trans- 
late these  words  by  those  of  another  Apostle,  each 


CASTING    CARE    ON    GOD.  347 

of  us  is  called  to  hide  his  whole  life  with  Christ  in 
God. 

It  is  only  when  we  have  performed  this  all-includ- 
ing duty,  that  we  are  prepared  to  bring  our  sep- 
arate cares  to  Him.  I  have  no  doubt  that  every 
man  has  special  anxieties  that  he  wishes  God  to  dis- 
sipate. One  is  anxious  for  wealth,  and  another  for 
power,  and  another  for  position.  And  each  is  quite 
ready  to  bring  his  special  anxiety  to  God,  and  to 
ask  Him  to  relieve  it  by  bestowing  the  desired  bless- 
ing. But,  this  is  not  the  exhortation  of  the  Apostle. 
He  calls  you,  first  of  all,  to  bring  your  whole  life  to 
God,  to  cast  the  whole  of  it  on  Him,  in  full  faith  of 
his  assurance,  that  whether  wealth  or  poverty,  sick- 
ness or  health  is  yours,  He  is  still  caring  for  you, 
and  is  making  all  your  experiences  your  servants. 
When  you  have  done  this,  and  then  only,  will  you 
be  in  a  frame  of  mind  to  bring  to  Him  each  sepa- 
rate anxiety  that  is  wearing  you.  And,  therefore,  I 
put  the  question :  Have  you  gone  to  Him  with  this 
whole  life  of  yours,  and  trusting  in  his  love  revealed 
in  Jesus  Christ,  have  you  said:  "My  life  is  too  per- 
plexing for  me  to  understand.  I  am  in  thy  hands, 
and  Thou  art  infinite  Love.  I  cast  it  all  on  Thee, 
for  Thou  carest  for  me."  Only  when  you  shall  have 
thus  rolled  the  burden  of  your  whole  life  on  Him, 
can  you  know  the  peace  which  passes  understanding. 

And  this  leads  me  to  remark,  finally,  that  the  ex- 
hortation of  the  Apostle  contemplates  a  distinct  and 
conscious  co-operation  of  the  human  spirit  with  God 
in  labor.  Obviously  the  text  does  not  exhort  us  to 
any  thing  like  indolence.  The  statement  is  not: 
"God  careth  for  you;  therefore  do  not  take  up 
the  cares  of  life.  Let  them  lie  unnoticed  and  for- 
gotten."   The  Apostle  is  very  far  from  teaching  that 


348  SERMONS    ON    THE    CHRISTIAN    LIFE. 

the  Christian  is  to  shrink  from  duties,  because  they 
involve  anxieties.  He  says  to  us:  "God  cares  for 
you ;  his  heart  throbs  with  infinite  love.  Therefore 
take  up  the  duties  of  life;  but,  whatever  anxiety  may 
be  involved  in  their  performance,  cast  that  on  God. 
Do  not  be  troubled  while  you  work.  Yours  is  the 
planting  and  the  nurture;  it  is  his  to  send  the  rain 
and  sunshine,  and  at  last  to  grant  the  harvest."  Shall 
the  farmer  neglect  to  plow  the  ground  or  plant  the 
I  seed  because  he  knows  the  faithfulness  of  God?  On 
Lthe  contrary,  for  this  very  reason  he  plows  and  plants; 
and  as  for  the  result,  he  commits  it  all  to  God,  who 
has  promised  that  seed-time  and  harvest  shall  not 
fail.  Labor  then  in  the  lot  in  which  God  calls  you 
to  stand.  But  having  exhausted  all  your  own  re- 
sources, do  not  perplex  your  soul  about  the  results 
that  belong  to  God.  Cast  all  anxiety  concerning 
them  on  Him,  rejoicing  in  the  promise:  "He  that 
goeth  forth  weeping,  bearing  precious  seed,  shall 
doubtless  return  again  rejoicing,  bearing  his  sheaves 
with  him."  For  the  promises  of  God  provide  for 
every  contingency;  and  the  history  of  the  Church 
proves  his  fidelity  in  their  fulfillment.  What  more, 
Christian  parent,  can  you  desire  than  his  great  cove- 
nant with  parents ;  what  more,  Christian  laborer, 
than  the  assurance  that  no  labor  in  Him  can  be  in 
vain;  what  more,  O  Church  of  God,  than  the  promise: 
"  Lo,  I  am  with  you  alway,  even  unto  the  end  of  the 
world"  ?  Let  us  not  weary  ourselves,  therefore,  with 
anxious  thought  about  the  results  of  our  labors;  but 
having  done  all  and  borne  all,  let  us  rejoice  that 
our  gifts  will  be  supplemented  from  his  infinite 
riches;  that  our  sacrifices  will  be  made  blessed  by 
the  power  of  his  sacrifice ;  that  our  poor  speech  will 
be  followed  by  the  demonstration  of  the  Spirit,  whom 


CASTING    CARE    ON    GOD.  349 

He  has  promised  who   is   over  all  God  blessed  for 
evermore. 

Permit  me  to  say,  again,  that  the  comfort  of  the 
truth  that  God  cares  for  each  of  us,  is  for  Christians 
alone.  It  is  promised  to  you  only  on  condition  of 
your  acceptance  of  it  in  Jesus  Christ.  In  view  of 
the  anxieties  of  life  that  are  wearing  and  breaking 
you;  and  the  death  in  whose  experience  all  your 
earthly  ambitions  will  be  destroyed,  come  to  Him, 
in  whom  alone  all  anxieties  can  be  dissipated,  all 
afflictions  become  steps  in  the  path  to  heaven,  and 
death  itself  be  made  the  minister  of  everlasting  life. 
Cast  your  soul  on  Him,  and  with  your  soul  all  wast- 
ing care ;  and  you  will  thank  Him  for  the  peace  that 
passes  all  understanding;  the  peace  which  no  man 
can  know  until  his  life  is  hid  with  Christ  in  God. 


XXIII. 
THE  FOUNDATION  AND  THE  BUILDING. 

"  For  other  foundation  can  no  man  lay  than  that  is  laid,  which 
is  Jesus  Christ.  Now  if  any  man  build  upon  this  foundation 
gold,  silver,  precious  stones,  wood,  hay,  stubble;  every  man's 
work  shall  be  made  manifest :  for  the  day  shall  declare  it,  be- 
cause it  shall  be  revealed  by  fire;  and  the  fire  shall  try  every 
man's  work  of  what  sort  it  is.  If  any  man's  work  abide  which 
he  hath  built  thereupon,  he  shall  receive  a  reward.  If  any 
man's  work  shall  be  burned,  he  shall  suffer  loss:  but  he  himself 
shall  be  saved;  yet  so  as  by  fire." — I.  Corinthians  hi,  11-15. 

There  are  some  difficulties  connected  with  the  in- 
terpretation of  this  passage,  but  they  are  not  of 
sufficient  magnitude  to  hide  the  general  meaning  of 
the  Apostle's  language,  or  to  obscure  the  practical 
lessons  that  he  endeavored  by  means  of  it  to  impress 
on  the  members  of  the  Church  at  Corinth.  If  we 
shall  come  to  the  study  of  the  passage,  earnestly  seek- 
ing to  know  its  relation  to  our  own  lives  and  duties, 
and  hopes,  we  shall  find  no  difficulty  or  obscurity 
whatever.  * 

However  difficult  it  may  be  to  apply  it  to  our 
lives,  the  figure  is  a  familiar  one,  and  the  picture  in 
the  mind  of  the  Apostle  is  easily  called  before  us. 
We  have  presented  to  us  a  builder,  erecting  a  struct- 

(350) 


THE    FOUNDATION    AND    THE    BUILDING.  351 

ure  on  a  foundation  already  laid  and  assigned  to 
him,  the  only  possible  foundation,  indeed,  for  a 
building  like  the  one  that  he  has  been  called  to 
erect.  He  is  aware,  while  engaged  in  his  work,  that  a 
day  is  coming  when  it  will  be  subjected  to  the  test  of 
fire ;  and  wisdom  dictates  the  choice  of  those  materials 
alone  that  will  outlast  such  an  ordeal.  The  Apostle, 
however,  suggests  the  possibility,  indeed,  the  proba- 
bility, that  not  having  continually  before  his  mind 
"  the  day  that  shall  try  and  the  fire  that  shall  declare 
his  work,"  the  builder  will  be  led  to  use  materials 
that  must  be  consumed,  as  "wood,  hay  and  stubble;" 
instead  of  "gold,  silver  and  precious  stones."  He 
points  out  the  loss  which  the  builder  will  suffer, 
and  contrasts  it  with  the  reward  which  another 
builder,  who  holds  distinctly  before  him  the  day 
of  visitation,  will  enjoy.  He  closes  the  passage  with 
the  comforting  assurance,  that,  because  he  has  built 
upon  a  foundation  which  will  abide,  the  man  who 
builds  with  even  perishable  materials  will  not  be 
consumed  with  his  work,  but  will  be  saved ;  yet  he 
adds  :  "  Saved  so  as  by  fire." 

If  we  keep  in  view  the  fact,  that  he  is  addressing 
those  who  profess  to  be  Christians,  we  shall  easily 
catch  his  meaning.  As  Christians,  we  are  not  only 
living,  but  building — building  characters  which  shall 
one  day  be  tested  in  the  presence  of  God;  and  by 
means  of  an  ordeal,  which  the  Apostle  teaches  is  so 
radical  as  to  justify  the  figure  which  he  here  em- 
ploys: "Every  man's  work  shall  be  made  manifest, 
for  the  day  shall  declare  it,  because  it  shall  be  re- 
vealed by  fire."  Every  thing  that  we  do  or  think 
or  feel  as  Christian  men  and  women  is  work  done, 
so  to  speak,  upon  this  character  of  ours  that  we  are 
constructing,  and  which  will  one  day  be  put  to  a 


352  SERMONS    ON    THE    CHRISTIAN    LIFE. 

trial  so  crucial  that  only  that  which  is  permanent 
and  valuable,  as  "gold,  silver  and  precious  stones," 
will  abide.  I  shall  not  occupy  your  time  in  endeav- 
oring to  fix  the  period  of  the  trial — whether  in  this 
life,  or  immediately  after  death,  or  at  some  period 
in  the  life  to  come.  Nor  shall  I  endeavor  to  state 
the  precise  character  of  the  trial — the  methods  which 
God  will  adopt.  These  have  not  been  revealed,  nor 
is  it  important  that  we  should  know  them.  It  is 
enough  to  know  that,  as  Christian  men,  we  are  build- 
ing characters  which  one  day  are  to  be  tried  as  gold 
is  tried  in  the  heated  crucible,  to  make  us  serious 
in  both  the  purpose  and  the  method  of  our  several 
lives. 

Holding  in  our  minds  the  general  significance  of 
the  passage,  as  thus  explained,  let  us  attend  to  the 
special  and  very  solemn  truths  which  it  announces. 

I.  Of  these,  no  one  is  more  solemn  and  important 
than  that  which  stands  at  the  very  beginning  of  the 
statement,  namely,  that  it  is  impossible  to  build  a 
character  which  God  will  approve — a  character 
whose  elements  shall  be  in  his  sight  as  "gold  and 
silver  and  precious  stones,"  unless  it  rests  upon 
Christ.  "  Other  foundation  can  no  man  lay  than 
that  is  laid,  which  is  Christ  Jesus."  I  do  not 
at  this  point  explain  just  what  is  meant  by  this 
building  upon  Christ  Jesus.  But,  taking  the  words 
as  they  stand,  and  speaking  to  those  who  are  re- 
joicing in  their  native  or  self-cultivated  goodness, 
I  beg  them  to  take  heed  to  these  solemn  words 
of  the  Apostle:  "Other  foundation  can  no  man  lay 
than  that  is  laid,  Christ  Jesus."  The  Bible  freely 
and  often  admits,  that  there  is  much  that  is  amiable 
and  graceful  in  the  temperament  and  deportment  of 
those  who  will  have  nothing  to  do  with  the  Saviour 


THE  FOUNDATION  AND  THE  BUILDING.  353 

of  men.  And  observation  compels  us  often  to  admit, 
that  they  know  the  joys  of  benevolence,  and  illus- 
trate the  power  of  self-sacrifice  in  the  home  for  the 
the  family,  and  on  the  field  of  battle  for  the  com- 
monwealth. But  if  these  words  of  the  Apostle  are 
to  be  believed,  these  do  not  constitute,  nor  are  they 
distinguishing  traits  of  that  character,  which  will 
save  a  man  in  the  day  of  the  thorough  testing  and 
final  arbitrament  of  God. 

It  is  not  to  be  doubted — it  were  cruel  so  to  soften 
the  statement  of  the  truth  that  it  shall  lose  the 
power  of  a  constraining  motive — that  this  word  does 
teach  with  wonderful  clearness,  the  absolute  neces- 
sity of  the  connection  of  the  soul  with  the  Re- 
deemer, in  order  to  the  soul's  salvation.  "  There 
is  none  other  name  given  under  heaven  among  men 
whereby  they  can  be  saved,"  but  the  name  of  Jesus. 
"  Other  foundation  can  no  man  lay  than  that  is  laid, 
which  is  Jesus  Christ."  To  ascertain  what  this  con- 
nection is  and  to  complete  it,  and  that  without  delay — 
this,  it  would  seem,  is  the  plainest  dictate  of  pru- 
dence. And,  blessed  be  God,  its  character  has  been 
revealed  in  terms  that  none  need  mistake.  God  does 
not  mock  his  creatures  in  the  exercise  of  his  mercy, 
by  establishing  a  condition  of  its  bestowment,  either 
unintelligible  in  its  announcement,  or  in  itself  hard 
to  be  fulfilled.  His  greatness  is  most  clearly  proved 
by  his  condescension  and  by  the  adaptation  of  his 
grace  to  the  character  of  those  to  whom  He  reveals 
it.  So,  when  He  tells  us  that  the  only  character 
which  He  will  approve  is  that  built  on  Christ,  He  very 
clearly  explains  what  building  on  Christ  means.  It 
is  believing  on  Him,  resting  on  Him,  looking  to 
Him;  connecting  our  life  with  Him,  as  the  object 
of  faith,  the  ground  of  hope  and  the  end  of  labor. 


354  SERMONS    ON    THE    CHRISTIAN    LIFE. 

Let  each  of  us  ask  himself  whether  he  has  complied 
with  this  first  and  all-including  condition.  Do  we 
believe  in  the  Son  of  God  ?  Do  we  indeed  accept 
Him  as  the  all-needed  and  all-sufficient  redeemer  of 
our  souls,  the  one  foundation  upon  which  character 
that  shall  abide  forever  can  be  builded  ?  And  let  us 
who  profess  that  we  have  accepted  Him,  examine 
ourselves  anew,  in  order  to  ascertain  whether  we  ac- 
cept Him  as  He  is  here  presented; — a  foundation  to 
build  character  upon.  Ah !  friends,  there  is  not 
a  little  accepting  of  Christ  as  a  shield,  that  will 
ward  off  from  us  the  just  judgment  of  a  holy  Law- 
giver ;  as  one  who  will  stand  between  us  and  de- 
struction. But  this  other  accepting  of  Him,  as  the 
foundation  on  which  to  rest  character  not  only,  but 
as  the  foundation  that  reveals  to  us  the  form  and 
that  kind  of  character  that  we  ought  to  build ;  this 
accepting  of  Him  as  the  rule  of  all  active  life  here,  as 
well  as  the  ground  and  reason  of  all  that  we  hope 
for  in  the  world  to  come ; — it  becomes  us  to  ask  our- 
selves whether  we  have  so  received  Him,  whenever 
we  read  these  solemn  words :  "  Other  foundation  can 
no  man  lay,  than  that  is  laid,  which  is  Christ  Jesus." 

II.  The  Apostle,  in  the  second  place,  brings  into 
view  the  truth  that  one  may  build  a  very  perishable, 
and  for  that  reason  a  very  valueless  structure  upon 
this  one  right  foundation.  "  Now  if  any  man  build 
upon  this  foundation  gold,  silver,  precious  stones  on 
the  one  hand,  or  wood,  hay,  stubble  on  the  other, 
every  man's  work  shall  be  made  manifest." 

This  is  a  truth  of  which  we  need  constantly  to 
remind  ourselves.  "We  are  accustomed  to  place  all 
Christians  in  one  category,  and  to  class  all  work 
done  for  Christ  and  his  Church  together.  When  we 
say  of  one  man  that  he  is  a  Christian,  and  of  another 


THE   FOUNDATION    AND   THE   BUILDING.  355 

that  he  is  not  a  Christian,  we  sometimes  feel  that 
we  have  exhausted  the  subject  of  religious  differ- 
ences. It  is  well,  therefore,  to  be  reminded  that 
there  are  differences,  and  very  important  differences, 
within  the  limits  of  personal  Christianity — differences 
too,  that  do  not  arise  from  mere  variations  of  indi- 
vidual temperament,  for,  for  differences  of  this  kind 
Christians  can  hardly  be  held  responsible — but  dif- 
ferences in  the  habit  of  the  Christian  life,  in  the  char- 
acter of  the  work  done  and  of  the  objects  on  which 
the  highest  regard  is  fixed.  There  are  those  who  so 
live  their  Christianity,  that  it  may  be  said  of  them, 
that  they  arc  building  of  "gold,  and  silver,  and  pre- 
cious stones,"  and  however  fierce  the  ordeal  that  shall 
try  them  at  last,  its  fire  will  only  purify  that  which  it 
can  not  destroy.  "While  of  others  it  may  just  as  truth- 
fully be  said,  that  they  are  building  of  "wood,  and 
hay,  and  stubble,"  which  the  same  fire  must  consume. 
Both  are  Christians  indeed;  both  trust  in  Christ;  both 
build  upon  the  foundation  than  which  no  other  can 
be  laid ;  and  both,  therefore,  shall  at  the  last  be  saved. 
But  in  the  preservation  and  the  value  of  the  work 
and  character  of  the  one,  he  shall  receive  a  reward ; 
while  the  other  shall  suffer  loss,  and  shall  himself  be 
saved  with  such  difficulty  as  to  justify  the  expres- 
sion, "  saved  so  as  by  fire." 

We  are  personally  and  deeply  interested,  therefore, 
in  the  endeavor  to  distinguish  between  the  two  classes 
here  so  sharply  discriminated.  Notice  then,  what,  as 
as  it  seems  to  me,  the  Apostle  clearly  teaches;  that 
the  one  fixes  his  regards  upon,  and  devotes  his  ener- 
gies to  building  that  which  is  essentially  permanent 
in  Christian  life;  the  "gold  and  silver  and  precious 
stones;"  while  the  other  gives  himself  to  that  which, 
however  useful  and  important  it  may  be  for  the  time, 


356  SERMONS    ON    THE    CHRISTIAN   LIFE. 

is  essentially  temporary,  and  which  at  all  events  must 
perish  in  the  day  of  testing.  It  is  as  if,  of  two  builders, 
the  one  labors  for  the  completion  of  the  monument 
itself;  and  the  other  gives  himself  solely  to  the  per- 
ishable scaffolding  that  surrounds  it,  and  has  little 
interest  in  that  which  will  abide  a  thing  of  beauty 
for  ages  after  the  scaffolding  shall  have  been  re- 
moved. It  is  as  if,  of  two  members  of  a  Church, 
one  gives  himself  wholly  to  the  interests  of  the 
outward  house  and  the  other  gives  himself  to  labor 
for  the  Church  which  gathers  within  its  walls,  each 
living  stone  of  which  is  an  immortal  soul,  and  pre- 
cious beyond  all  computation  in  the  view  of  God. 
It  is  as  if  some  of  us  gave  ourselves  to  the  enjoyment 
of  the  means  of  grace  which  shall  only  continue  with 
the  Church  on  earth,  and  others  of  us  to  the  cultiva- 
tion of  that  grace  of  which  we  have  in  this  world 
the  means ; — that  righteousness,  and  peace,  and  joy 
in  the  Holy  Ghost,  which  shall  endure  forever. 

I  am  confident,  Christian  friends,  that  I  am  point- 
ing out  a  difference  which  exists  not  only,  but  which 
is  obvious  to  every  observing  and  intelligent  be- 
liever. There  are  those — and  many  of  them  are 
earnest  and  zealous,  and,  I  may  add,  most  useful 
here  on  earth — whose  whole  life  and  labor  seem  to 
be  exhausted  by  the  outward  business  of  the  house 
of  God,  by  things  connected  with  Christ's  Church 
and  Kingdom,  which  are  seen  and  temporal;  who 
stop  there;  who,  if  I  may  be  permitted  to  speak 
plainly,  seem  to  be  more  deeply  interested  in  relig- 
ious affairs  that  have  but  a  passing  interest,  and 
arc  of  a  quasi-business  character,  than  in  those  high 
and  eternal  interests,  the  development  in  others  and 
themselves  of  that  lofty  spiritual  habit,  that  interior 
holiness,   which  will   bear   all    trials   in   this    world 


THE    FOUNDATION  AND    THE  BUILDING.  357 

and  the  world  to  come,  and  will  abide  while  ira- 
mortalit}r  endures.  And  there  are  other  Christians — 
and  I  bless  God  for  the  belief  that  they  are  mul- 
tiplying, and  for  the  assurance  that  they  will  mul- 
tiply more  and  more — who  look  beyond  the  out- 
ward and  the  temporal  to  the  inward  and  eternal; 
who  rejoice  in  the  means  of  grace  for  the  grace  itself 
which  they  are  thereby  enabled  to  secure,  who  value 
all  outward  institutions  and  churches  and  associa- 
tions and  conventions,  just  in  the  proportion  in 
which  they  advance  the  interests  of  that  King- 
dom whose  mere  ministering  servants  they  are,  that 
Kingdom  which  "  cometh  not  with  observation," 
which  "  is  not  in  word  but  in  power,"  that  Kingdom 
of  God,  which  is  "  righteousness,  and  peace,  and  joy 
in  the  Holy  Ghost." 

The  Apostle  does  not  intimate  of  these  two 
classes,  that  one  is  Christian,  and  the  other  is  not — 
and  God  forbid  that,  in  attempting  to  interpret  him, 
I  should  dare  to  intimate  it — but  he  does  say  of 
those  of  one  class,  that  they  are  building  into  the 
characters  which  they  are  rearing  against  the  day 
of  God's  trial,  "gold,  silver,  precious  stones,"  which 
can  not  perish;  and  of  the  others,  that  they  are 
building  "wood,  hay,  and  stubble,"  which  in  the  day 
that  shall  try  every  man's  work,  of  what  sort  it  is, 
must  be  consumed. 

I  have  said  enough,  I  trust,  on  this  subject,  to 
enable  us  all  to  ask  and  intelligently  to  answer  the 
question :  How  much  of  our  labor  stops  at  that  which 
is  merely  temporary  in  our  religion,  and  how  much 
goes  beyond  it,  to  that  which  is  permanent  and 
eternal?  Do  we  value  the  means  of  grace,  as  we 
rightly  term  them — churches  and  associations — for 
their   own  sakes,    or  for  that   inward  grace  which 


358  SERMONS    ON    THE    CHRISTIAN    LIFE. 

they  arc  so  well  fitted  by  God's  blessing  to  develop 
within  ns?  Does  our  love  find  its  most  cherished 
objects  in  the  earthly  organizations  with  which  we 
are  connected,  or  in  that  spiritual  Church  which 
Christ  loved  and  for  which  He  gave  Himself,  that 
he  might  present  it  to  his  Father  without  spot  or 
wrinkle  or  any  such  thing?  I  simply  suggest  the 
various  subjects,  with  regard  to  which  questions  like 
these  may  be  asked.  To  every  thing  connected  with 
Christianity  as  related  to  man,  belongs  something 
that  is  outward  and  temporal,  and  something  that 
is  inward  and  eternal.  In  every  sacrament  there 
is  the  outward  and  visible  sign  and  the  inward 
and  spiritual  grace.  To  every  sermon  belongs  the 
adornment  of  mere  rhetoric  and  the  religious  lesson 
which  it  is  intended  to  convey,  to  every  song  of 
praise  the  beauty  of  rhythm  and  the  adoration  which 
is  syllabled.  And  it  is  as  our  attention  or  our  love 
or  our  labor  rests  upon  that  which  is  outward,  or 
upon  that  which  is  inward,  that  we  are  building 
with  "  wood  and  hay  and  stubble,"  or  with  "  gold 
and  silver  and  precious  stones"  which  can  not  be 
consumed. 

III.  The  Apostle  having  dwelt  upon  the  one 
foundation  on  which  Christian  character  can  rest, 
and  the  radical,  or  at  least  the  very  important  dif- 
ference in  the  materials  of  which  Christians  may 
make  use  in  building  on  it,  calls  the  attention  of 
the  Corinthian  Christians  to  the  fact,  that  a  day  is 
coming  which  shall,  as  by  fire,  try  and  declare  the 
permanence  or  the  temporary  character  of  their 
building.  "Every  man's  work  shall  be  made  man- 
ifest, for  the  day  shall  declare  it ;  because  it  shall  be 
revealed  by  fire,  and  the  fire  shall  try  every  man's 
work  of  what  sort  it  is." 


THE    FOUNDATION    AND    THE    BUILDING.  359 

The  Church  has  always  believed  in  the  judgment 
of  God  to  be  pronounced  on  each  soul  hereafter — 
a  judgment  in  respect  to  that  soul's  relations  to  the 
law  of  God,  and  to  the  Saviour  whom  He  has  sent  to 
redeem  the  world.  Upon  that  judgment,  the  Church 
believes  the  soul's  destiny  in  the  world  to  come  to 
be  suspended.  But  Christians  have  not  possessed  a 
very  distinct  faith  in  the  coming  of  a  day  in  which 
their  lives  as  Christians  are  to  be  tested,  and  by 
which  the  permanent  or  merely  temporary  value  of 
their  labors  here  is  to  be  determined.  We  hear  a 
great  deal  said  about  the  final  discernment  between 
the  righteous  and  the  wicked,  and  the  division  of 
men  on  the  right  hand  and  the  left.  But  we  hear 
comparatively  little  about  the  final  determination  of 
the  relative  value  of  the  lives,  and  the  relative  good- 
ness of  the  character  of  those  who  have  accepted 
Christ.  And  yet  it  must  be  clear  to  every  student 
of  the  passage,  that  such  a  trial  and  such  a  judgment 
are  in  these  words  most  clearly  taught.  There  has 
been  appointed  a  judgment  which  shall  finally  decide 
whether  the  materials,  that  we  have  used  in  the  con- 
struction of  our  life-work,  are  abiding  or  perishable. 
I  do  not  say  that  there  will  be  all  the  accessories 
of  a  court  of  justice;  and  that  before  its  bar  the 
soul  will  be  arraigned,  and  evidence  will  be  sifted, 
and  judgment  be  solemnly  recorded.  But  that  all  the 
work  of  our  Christian  life-time  will  be  tested,  and  its 
value  and  character  for  eternity  be  determined — of 
this  I  think  there  can  be  no  doubt  in  the  mind  of  any 
thoughtful  Christian  man  or  woman.  It  may  be,  that 
the  day  of  one's  departure  from  this  world  will  be  the 
day  of  his  trial,  and  the  very  article  of  his  death,  and 
his  entrance  upon  the  scenes  and  occupations  of  his 
new  life  will  be  the  trial — the  test  of  all  that  he  has 


360  SERMONS   ON   THE   CHRISTIAN   LIFE. 

done  or  has  been  here.  Indeed,  I  do  not  see  how 
we  can  escape  the  conviction,  that  the  experience 
of  death  and  of  God's  presence  must  of  necessity 
try  and  declare  the  value  of  the  earthly  life.  Is 
it  not  the  plainest  truth  in  the  world,  that  a  man's 
entrance  into  any  position  is  a  test  of  his  fitness  for 
that  position;  that  the  trial  of  one's  fitness  for  the 
chief  magistracy  of  the  Republic  begins  on  the  day  on 
which  he  begins  the  performance  of  its  duties?  And 
is  it  hard  to  believe  that  a  Christian,  entering  heaven 
with  all  the  character  and  experience  he  has  accumu- 
lated during  his  religious  life  on  earth,  will  on  that 
day  behold  his  character  tested  as  it  has  never  been 
on  earth ;  tried,  "  so  as  by  fire "  ?  And  if  he  has 
busied  himself  about  merely  worldly  affairs  con- 
nected with  the  Church  of  God  and  the  religion  of 
Christ,  will  he  not  find  all  his  labor  and  experience 
burn  and  shrivel  into  ashes,  in  the  blaze  of  the  ce- 
lestial light  in  which  he  shall  see  God  face  to  face, 
and  know  Him  even  as  He  is  known. 

I  do  not  affirm  that,  having  said  this,  I  have  ex- 
hausted the  meaning  of  these  words  of  the  Apostle  : 
"  The  fire  shall  try  every  man's  work  of  what  sort  it 
is;"  but  what  I  have  said,  makes  it  easy  to  believe, 
that  such  an  ordeal  is  awaiting  us;  and  that  it  lies 
within  the  power  of  natural  events  to  cause  it;  and 
the  truth  should  make  us  careful  to  live  in  view  of 
its  approach. 

IV.  But,  not  to  dwell  longer  upon  this  part  of  the 
passage,  the  Apostle  next  states  the  important  truth, 
that  the  rewards  of  heaven  are  determined  always  by 
the  character  of  our  work  and  life  here.  In  other 
words,  he  announces  the  great  principle  that  God  is 
never  arbitrary  in  his  bestowments.  These  are  his 
words :    "  If  any  man's  work   abide  which  he  hath 


TIIE   FOUNDATION   AND   THE   BUILDING.  361 

built  thereupon,  he  shall  receive  a  reward.  If  any 
man's  work  shall  be  burned,  he  shall  suffer  a  loss." 
The  Christian's  labor  here  determines  his  reward 
hereafter.  In  a  high  and  important  sense,  he  is 
the  author  of  his  own  heaven.  The  principle  thus 
announced  is  clearly  taught  in  the  "Word  of  God. 
In  parable,  in  prophecy  and  in  direct  statement,  we 
are  informed  that  what  are  obedience  and  reward 
in  the  moral  government  of  God  are  obedience 
and  reward  in  the  natural  government  of  God; 
that  they  are  cause  and  effect;  that  the  natural  and 
moral  constitutions  of  his  kingdom  coincide;  that 
if,  in  the  moral  government  of  God,  the  soul  that 
sinneth  shall  die,  in  the  natural  government  of  God 
to  be  carnally  minded  is  death.  God  always  pro- 
portions his  rewards  and  punishments  to  character. 
So  the  future  world  will  be  to  us  just  what  we 
shall  make  it  by  the  character  of  our  lives  here. 
Each  man  goes  to  his  own  place.  The  sinner,  by 
a  law  of  his  own  nature  as  well  as  by  the  judgment 
of  God,  will  gravitate  to  the  hopeless  abode  of 
evil,  and  the  righteous  will  rise  to  the  abode  of 
the  righteous  God.  That  is  an  instructive  picture 
in  the  Book  of  Revelation,  in  which  we  behold  the 
wicked,  not  driven  from  the  presence  of  God,  but 
themselves  calling  upon  the  rocks  and  mountains 
to  fall  and  cover  them  and  hide  them  from  his 
face.  God,  I  repeat,  is  never  capricious  in  his  be- 
stowments.  Those,  who  shall  be  lost,  will  be  com- 
pelled to  confess  themselves  suicides.  They  shall 
eat  of  the  fruit  of  their  own  way,  and  be  filled 
with  their  own  devices.  So  it  is  with  the  Christian 
in  heaven ;  his  reward  there,  the  greatness  and 
glory  of  it,  his  very  capacity  of  enjoyment  will  be 
determined  exactly  by  the  character  of  his  life  and 


362  SERMONS    ON    THE    CHRISTIAN    LIFE. 

labor  here.  He  who  builds  in  such  a  way  and  with 
such  materials  that  his  work  shall  abide,  will  re- 
ceive a  corresponding  reward.  Those  whose  labors 
shall  be  destroyed,  will  sutler  corresponding  loss. 

Let  us  live  and  labor  therefore,  brethren,  as  those 
who  know  that  we  shall  reap  in  the  hereafter  the 
natural  fruit  of  our  labors  here.  "There  are  dis- 
tinctions in  the  condition  of  the  redeemed  in  eter- 
nity; harps  of  a  more  amazing  power;  scepters 
of  a  wider  sway;  stations  nearer  in  honor  to  the 
throne  of  our  God."  These  may  be  ours,  but  only 
on  condition  that  we  labor  for  them.  These  are 
not  for  those  who  build  with  "wood  and  hay  and 
stubble,"  but  for  those  who,  laboring  for  that  which 
shall  abide  the  consummation  of  all  perishable  things, 
build  with  "gold  and  silver  and  precious  stones." 

So,  brethren,  I  have  tried  to  make  plain  the  mean- 
ing of  these  words  of  the  Apostle.  The  lesson  that 
they  teach  is  solemn  and  urgent.  How  simple,  yet 
how  hard  to  learn;  how  easily  remembered,  but  how 
easily  forgotten !  To  live  and  labor  and  endure  for 
those  truths  and  graces  in  the  Kingdom  of  God 
that  will  live  beyond  the  world  that  now  is.  To 
seek  a  character  that  will  fit  us  for  the  enjoyments 
of  heaven  as  well  as  for  the  labors  of  earth.  In 
all  labor,  worship,  and  study,  to  look  beyond  that 
which  is  seen  and  temporal  to  the  unseen  and  eter- 
nal. So  shall  we  build  with  gold  and  silver  and 
precious  stones,  and  so  receive  a  reward  in  the  day 
when  many  shall  suffer  loss  of  hopes  they  cherish 
now,  and  be  saved  so  as  by  fire. 

The  passage  is  a  very  solemn  one,  and  yet  a  very 
comforting  one  as  well.  How  unspeakably  blessed 
it  is  to  be  assured  that  though  we  may  suffer  loss,  and 
be  saved  so  as  by  fire;  we  shall  still  be  saved,  if  we 


THE   FOUNDATION   AND   THE   BUILDING.  363 

but  build  upon  tbe  one  foundation  that  is  laid,  which 
is  Christ  Jesus.  Our  sins,  our  mistakes,  our  world- 
liness,  our  vices,  our  follies,  our  errors  of  judgment, 
these  and  their  results  will  all  be  burned ;  and  though 
many  hopes  and  brilliant  visions  will  be  destroyed 
in  their  destruction,  we  shall  be  saved,  if,  amid  the 
wreck  about  us,  we  still  stand  upon  the  one  founda- 
tion— the  Rock  Christ  Jesus.  May  God  help  us  all 
to  build  on  Him,  and  so  be  safe  in  the  day  when  all 
things  shall  be  tried  as  by  fire ! 


XXIV. 
THE  KEWARD  OF  LOVE. 

"She  hath  done  what  she  could." — Mark  xiv,  8. 

The  words  of  the  text  were  spoken  by  our  Lord. 
The  circumstances  of  their  utterance  were  the  fol- 
lowing. Jesus  was  accustomed,  during  the  last 
week  of  his  life,  to  retire  towards  evening  from  the 
crowded  city  of  Jerusalem  to  Bethany,  the  home  of 
Martha  and  Mary  and  Lazarus.  On  "Wednesday — as 
it  seems  to  me,  and  not  on  the  Saturday  previous,  as 
some  suppose — two  days  before  his  crucifixion,  a 
supper  was  made  for  Him  in  the  house  of  Simon  the 
leper;  probably  one  on  whom  the  healing  hand  of  the 
great  Physician  had  been  laid,  and  not  improbably 
a  kinsman  of  the  family  which  gave  to  Jesus  three 
of  his  most  faithful  disciples.  Lazarus  was  there — 
the  living  evidence  of  the  Divine  power  residing  in 
the  Master — and  with  him  were  gathered  many  of 
the  disciples,  who  for  three  years  had  accompanied 
Jesus  and  beheld  the  miracles  He  performed,  and 
heard  the  wondrous  words  with  which  he  announced 
the  Kingdom  of  God.  Martha  served  at  the  table, 
acting  in  perfect  harmony  with  the  disposition  which 
she  is  elsewhere  described  as  possessing.     "We  do  not 

(3G4) 


THE    REWARD    OF    LOVE.  365 

catch  sight  of  the  other  sister,  however,  until  near 
the  close  of  the  meal ;  hut  hefore  its  conclusion  Mary 
enters — unobserved,  it  would  appear — and  approaches 
the  couch  at  which  Jesus  sits  reclining  before  the 
table.  As  one  has  said  in  describing  the  scene,  "  She 
can  not  now,  as  in  the  privacy  of  her  own  dwelling, 
sit  down  at  his  feet  to  listen  to  the  gracious  words 
coming  from  his  lips.  But  she  has  an  alabaster  phial 
of  fragrant  ointment; — her  costliest  possession — one 
treasured  up  for  some  unknown  but  great  occasion. 
She  is  here  because  the  occasion  has  arrived.  Hav- 
ing approached  Jesus,  she  pours  part  of  its  contents 
upon  his  head,  and  resolves  that  the  whole  shall  be 
spent  in  his  anointing.  She  compresses  the  yielding 
material  of  which  the  phial  is  composed,  breaks  it, 
and  pours  the  last  drop  of  it  upon  his  feet,  flinging 
away  the  relics  of  the  broken  vessel,  and  wiping  his 
feet  with  her  hair.  Kingly  guest  at  royal  banquet 
could  not  have  had  a  costlier  homage  of  the  kind 
rendered  to  Him.  It  was  the  final  expression  of  the 
fullness  and  intensity  of  her  gratitude,  her  loyalty 
and  her  love." 

As  the  fragrant  perfume  pervades  the  apartment 
in  which  the  guests  are  gathered,  the  disciples  catch 
sight  of  the  kneeling  Mary,  and  wonder  at  the  Mas- 
ter's acceptance  of  her  homage.  Heretofore  their 
loyalty  had  not  forbidden  their  protests  against  some 
of  his  actions,  and  they  are  not  silent  now.  They 
break  out  in  lamentation  at  the  waste  of  the  costly 
ointment.  The  voice  of  the  treasurer  of  the  com- 
pany is  louder  and  more  angry  than  the  rest. 
"  Why,"  he  cries,  rebuking  both  the  Master  and  the 
humble  disciple  who  is  bending  to  wipe  his  feet  with 
the  hair  of  her  head — "Why,"  cries  Judas,  "was  not 
this  ointment  sold  for  three  hundred  pence,  and  given 


366  SERMONS    ON    THE    CHRISTIAN    LIFE. 

to  the  poor?"  And  in  reply  the  Master  pronounces 
the  eulogy  that  I  have  selected  as  my  text,  and  utters 
this  memorable  prophecy:  "Verily  I  say  unto  you, 
Wheresoever  this  Gospel  shall  be  preached  through- 
out the  whole  world,  this  also  that  she  hath  done 
shall  be  told  for  a  memorial  of  her." 

"  She  hath  done  what  she  could."  No  greater 
praise  could  have  been  spoken  by  any  one,  and  this 
was  spoken  by  the  One  whose  praise  is  the  highest 
honor  mortals  can  receive.  It  is  the  praise  of  Him 
whose  plaudit  all  of  us  at  last  shall  covet,  when  to 
some  he  will  say,  "Depart,  ye  workers  of  iniquity;" 
and  to  others,  "Well  done,  good  and  faithful  serv- 
ants ;  enter  into  the  joy  of  your  Lord."  I  am  sure 
that  I  have  a  right  to  expect  your  attention,  while 
briefly  and  familiarly  I  endeavor  to  state  the  truths 
and  lessons  in  respect  to  Christian  work,  which  these 
words  of  Christ  to  his  disciples  are  meant  to  teach 
us. 

I.  You  will  remark  that  Christ  pronounced  this 
eulogy  upon  Mary's  act,  although  it  did  not  immedi- 
ately advance  his  Kingdom,  or  bless  mankind.  It 
is  at  this  point  that  our  Lord's  estimate  of  Mary's 
conduct  antagonizes  that  of  the  disciples.  Those 
disciples  felt  that  they  had  a  right  to  judge  Mary, 
by  referring  to  certain  obvious  needs  and  wants 
which  existed  and  obtruded  themselves  on  their 
minds,  and  which  Mary's  act  of  homage  to  Christ 
did  not  in  the  least  meet  and  supply.  They  sup- 
posed that  their  indignation  was  righteous  and  ap- 
propriate, and  that  while  the  poor  were  perishing 
for  lack  of  food,  it  did  not  become  a  disciple  of  Him 
who  went  about  doing  good  to  engage  in  so  useless 
and  costly  an  expenditure.  Now,  what  does  the 
eulogy  of  our  Lord  mean,  when  we  study  it  in  con- 


THE    REWARD    OF    LOVE.  3G7 

nection  with  the  circumstances  in  which  it  was  thus 
spoken?  Does  He  mean  to  say  to  his  whole  Church: 
"You  need  not  be  troubled  with  the  poor  and  suffer- 
ing around  you.  You  may  pour  out  the  treasures 
of  your  wealth  in  what  seem  to  you  mere  unuseful 
and  costly  ceremonies"?  Does  He  mean  to  announce 
as  a  law,  that  'every  expenditure  by  his  people, 
whether  or  not  it  appears  to  them  to  serve  the  pur- 
poses for  which  his  Kingdom  was  established,  will 
receive  his  approbation  ?  Not  at  all.  There  is  no 
volume  in  which  mere  ceremony  and  adornment  are 
made  to  appear  at  such  a  disadvantage  as  they  are 
in  the  New  Testament.  And  no  religious  teacher 
that  has  lived  demanded  so  little  ceremonious  wor- 
ship from  his  followers,  either  for  Himself  or  for  the 
Father  whom  He  revealed.  What,  then,  does  He 
mean  ?  I  doubt  very  much  whether  this  eulogy  of 
the  Saviour  upon  Mary's  anointing  would  have  been 
uttered,  had  it  not  been  called  out  by  the  indignation 
and  judgment  of  the  disciples.  If  we  would  under- 
stand it — and  here  we  see  the  first  lesson  the  record 
of  it  is  meant  to  teach — we  must  remember  that  it 
was  spoken  to  rebuke  the  disciples  for  their  attempt 
to  estimate  the  moral  quality  of  the  conduct  of  a 
fellow  disciple.  We  shall  not  learn  the  first  of  the 
important  lessons  it  contains,  unless  we  consider  this 
element  of  reproof. 

Here  comes  the  sister  of  Lazarus,  her  heart  over- 
flowing with  gratitude  for  the  recovery  of  her 
brother  from  the  power  of  the  grave.  What  can 
she  do  for  the  Prince  of  Life,  who  wept  with  her 
in  her  desolate  grief,  and  then  pronounced  the 
words  w7hich  transmuted  her  grief  into  joy?  She 
can  not  aid  the  omnipotence  which  He  displayed  at 
the  open  tomb.     All   that   she    can   do,  is   in  some 


368  SERMONS   ON    TIIE    CHRISTIAN    LIFE. 

signal  way  to  reveal  her  gratitude;  and  so  the  ala- 
baster box  is  broken,  and  the  feet  of  Jesus  are 
wiped  with  the  hair  of  her  head.  Now  the  disciples 
presume  to  pass  judgment  upon  this  act  of  Mary,  and 
to  condemn  it  by  a  reference  to  labors  in  which  they 
would  naturally  have  engaged,  and  Christ  praises 
Mary  first  of  all  in  order  to  rebuke  the  disciples. 

And  they  needed  the  rebuke,  and  we  need  it  now, 
my  friends.  I  suppose  that  there  is  no  disposition 
more  difficult  to  eradicate  than  the  disposition  to 
judge  the  Christian  work  of  others,  by  referring  to 
what  we  would  have  done  in  the  same  circumstances. 
Only  a  few  years  have  passed,  since  it  was  no  unusual 
thing  for  some  Christians  to  apply  harsh  epithets  to 
other  Christians — who  felt  it  to  be  their  duty  to 
send  the  Gospel  to  distant  lands — because  there  were 
languishing  in  ignorance  so  many  heathen  within 
the  limits  of  Christendom.  Many  of  us  remember 
that  a  great  English  novelist,  calling  himself  Chris- 
tian, felt  justified  in  holding  up  to  the  scorn  of  the 
world,  by  means  of  caricature,  the  work  of  Foreign 
Missions,  because  of  the  poverty  that  blighted  the 
lives  of  millions  in  his  own  country.  Or,  here  is  a 
man  who  has  been  afflicted  with  a  sore  bereave- 
ment. The  light  of  his  household  has  been  dark- 
ened, and  life  is  a  burden.  Suddenly  the  Gospel  of 
Christ,  with  its  abounding  consolations,  its  exceed- 
ing great  and  precious  promises,  awakens  a  new  hope 
within  his  soul,  and  lifts  the  burden  that  had  weighed 
so  heavily  upon  him.  Filled  with  gratitude  that  he 
feels  he  must  express,  he  builds  a  memorial  church ; 
and,  that  it  may  fitly  express  his  love  to  the  God  who 
has  brought  him  out  of  the  darkness,  he  spares  no 
expenditure  in  its  adornment.  It  is  the  natural  and 
spontaneous   expression  of  the  man's    gratefulness. 


THE    REWARD    OF    LOVE.  369 

Now,  this  being  so,  what  shall  we  say  of  the  spirit 
which  blinds  the  eye  alike  to  the  beauty  of  the 
monumental  church,  aud  to  the  beauty  of  the  grace 
which  reared  it,  and  says  :  "Why  was  not  this  oint- 
ment sold  and  given  to  the  poor?"  Whatever  we 
may  say  of  it,  we  know  what  Christ  says  of  it  from 
the  words  of  the  text.  He  rebukes  it  in  his  words, 
"Judge  not,  that  ye  be  not  judged." 

We  must  regard  this  eulogy,  first  of  all,  as  our 
Lord's  appeal  to  us  for  charity  in  our  estimate  of 
our  fellow  Christians'  lives.  The  eulogy  is  not :  "  She 
has  done  the  absolute  best  that  could  have  been  done 
in  the  circumstances,"  or  "the  best  that  you  could 
have  done ; "  but  "  she  hath  done  what  she  could." 
Perhaps  the  disciples  were  right;  perhaps  it  is  true, 
that  the  money  would  have  been  better  expended  in 
relieving  the  wants  of  the  poverty-stricken  in  Beth- 
any. Our  Lord  does  not  enter  upon  the  discussion 
of  that  question.  If  Mary's  conduct  was  mistaken, 
her  love  and  devotion  sanctified  the  mistake,  and 
called  forth  the  most  gracious  words  that  were  ever 
spoken  by  the  Master  to  a  disciple. 

I  do  not  like  to  dwell  upon  this  part  of  the  sub- 
ject, because  my  speaking  of  it  may  seem  to  suggest 
that  those  whom  I  address  are  prone  to  censorious- 
ness.  I  do  speak  of  it,  let  me  say,  because  all  of  us 
are  tempted  to  it;  and  most  of  us  yield  to  the  temp- 
tation oftener  than  we  imagine.  I  speak  of  it  to 
warn  you  and  myself  against  it.  It  would  not  be 
strange  if,  in  yielding  to  it,  we  should  prevent  a 
sincere  disciple  from  offering  the  only  natural  and 
self-sacrificing  homage  of  his  soul  to  Christ. 

II.  But  returning  to  the  eulogy  pronounced  by 
Cli list,  I  remark  again,  that  it  was  spoken  because 
the  anointing  was  done  out  of  love  to  Himself. 


370  SERMONS   ON    THE    CHRISTIAN    LIFE. 

It  seems  that  He  selected  for  special  praise  an  act 
that  could  not  immediately  bless  the  world,  in  or- 
der to  show  to  the  Church,  throughout  all  time, 
what  are  the  distinguishing  traits  of  Christian 
labor.  Had  Mary,  in  the  fullness  of  her  grateful 
love,  done  what  the  disciples  urged  that  she  should 
have  done;  had  she,  in  order  to  show  her  love  to 
Christ,  sold  the  ointment  and  distributed  the  pro- 
ceeds to  the  poor,  she  would  have  deserved  the 
eulogy  quite  as  much  as  she  did.  The  singularity 
of  the  incident  is  that  Christ  selects  her  for  praise, 
in  view  of  an  act  which  did  not  help  the  poor  or 
immediately  advance  the  interests  of  his  Kingdom? 
Why  was  this?  I  answer,  to  show  to  you  and  me 
what  trait  it  is  that  must  characterize  all  Christian 
labor;  what  trait  it  is  that  makes  it  Christian.  What 
is  this  trait?  We  know  that  it  is  not  relief  of  the 
distressed.  For  the  inspired  Apostle  teaches,  that 
though  we  give  all  our  goods  to  feed  the  poor  and 
have  not  love,  it  profiteth  us  nothing.  Not  the 
giving  to  the  poor,  but  the  love  makes  our  labor 
Christian.  And  just  this  is  what  Christ's  words 
teach  us.  Mary  exhibited  the  spirit  of  disciple- 
ship,  although  she  fed  no  poor,  because  what  she 
did,  she  did  impelled  by  her  burning  love  of  Christ. 

It  is  only  when  the  love  of  Christ  impels  us  to 
labor  that  our  labor  becomes  Christian.  The  term 
Christian  does  not  describe  any  particular  kind  of 
labor.  It  describes  a  spirit  in  which  the  labor  is 
performed.  If  that  spirit  be  present,  the  work  is 
Christian  whether  it  is  preaching  the  Gospel  or  pur- 
chasing goods.  If  the  spirit  be  absent,  it  is  not 
Christian  whether  it  is  giving  one's  goods  to  feed 
the  poor  or  giving  one's  body  to  be  burned.  This 
spirit  is  nothing  else  than  the  spirit  of  love  and  de- 


THE    REWARD    OF    LOVE.  371 

votion  to  Christ,  born  of  gratitude  for  what  He  has 
done  and  suffered  for  us.  Nothing  else  than  his 
love  will  meet  with  his  approval  or  call  down  this 
benediction.  If,  however,  you  possess  this  love 
and  seek  to  manifest  it  in  labor  for  Him,  He  will 
readily  excuse  your  mistakes  in  the  methods  you 
adopt  to  show  it.  I  am  speaking  to  fathers.  You 
are  a  father,  and  your  affection  for  your  little 
child  it  is  that  makes  your  labor  pleasant  all  the 
day  long.  Business  worries  you  and  tires  your 
brain,  and  you  would  be  tempted  to  give  it  up 
altogether,  but  that  you  remember  your  young 
growing  boy  at  home,  who,  you  feel,  must  him- 
self one  day  be  well  started  in  life;  and  for  him 
you  put  off  the  day  of  your  retirement  from  the 
many  cares  of  your  business  life.  As  you  go  home 
from  your  counting-room  in  the  evening,  this  boy 
of  yours  meets  you,  and  in  some  awkward,  gro- 
tesque, blundering  and  most  useless  way,  but  still 
honestly,  and  out  of  the  depth  of  his  heart  reveals 
his  sincere  affection  for  you.  What  do  you  do  ?  Do 
you  rebuke  him  for  his  blundering  and  awkward- 
ness ?  Not  at  all.  You  thank  God  for  the  love  that 
wells  up  from  his  heart.  And  during  all  his  young 
and  inexperienced  life,  you  are  quite  willing  to  en- 
dure the  grotesqueness  and  inappropriateness  of  its 
manifestation,  if  you  can  only  be  sure  of  his  love. 

Just  this  was  the  feeling  of  our  Lord  towTards 
Mary,  and  just  this  is  his  feeling  towards  us.  Let  it 
be  admitted  that  the  outpouring  of  the  ointment 
was  useless.  Christ  did  not  need  it.  But  what  does 
He  need?  Our  labors  for  the  poor?  Could  not  lie, 
who  spake  and  it  was  done,  speak  food  into  existence 
at  once  from  the  elements  ?  Christ  needs  nothing  that 
we  can  do.     He  values,  more  highly  than  all  that  we 


372  SERMONS    ON    TIIE   CHRISTIAN   LIFE. 

can  do,  the  love  which  our  labors  reveal.  It  is  this 
affection  that  sanctifies  and  ennobles  and  calls 
down  his  blessing  on  even  our  errors.  It  is  be- 
cause of  the  love  of  his  people  for  Him,  that  He 
makes  their  weakness  conquer  the  might  of  the 
world,  and  their  things  which  are  not  bring  to 
naught  things  that  are. 

Love  to  our  Saviour  is  the  first  abiding  trait  of 
Christian  labor.  It  is  better  in  his  sight  than  wis- 
dom in  devising  means,  or  power  in  applying  them. 
It  is  nobler  than  the  eloquence  of  the  preacher  of 
his  Gospel,  and  richer  than  the  benefactions  of  the 
wealthy  in  his  Church.  He,  who  loved  us  and  gave 
Himself  for  us,  expects  our  affection  in  return.  That 
affection  is  the  source  of  his  highest  joy  in  heaven, 
as  the  hope  of  it  was  the  motive  which  sustained 
Him  in  Gethsemane  and  Calvary.  It  were  better 
for  each  of  us,  it  were  better  for  this  Church,  that  all 
our  conduct  were  marked  by  the  wildest  folly  in  men's 
esteem,  than  that  we  should  lose  the  vision  of  a  per- 
sonal Redeemer,  and  lose  this  love  of  Him  as  the  con- 
straining  motive  of  our  lives.  We  can  not  do  much 
for  Him;  we  can  not  do  much  for  the  world.  Our 
gifts  and  labors  to  be  effective  at  all  in  spreading 
the  Gospel,  must  all  be  followed  by  his  Spirit.  In 
our  ignorance  and  weakness  and  short-sightedness, 
it  must  be  that  we  shall  do  much  that  is  useless, 
and  much  that  in  itself  would  be  positively  harm- 
ful. There  is  but  one  trait  that  can  set  right  all 
our  errors,  and  render  harmless  all  our  ignorance; 
and  that  is  this  affection  for  Him,  in  return  for  a 
love  that  passeth  knowledge,  and  a  redemption 
whose  cost  we  can  not  fathom  and  whose  glory  we 
can  not  conceive. 

III.     I  remark  again,  that  this  eulogy  was  pro- 


THE    REWARD    OF    LOVE.  373 

nounced,  because  the  reality  of  the  love  was  revealed 
by  the  self-sacrifice  of  Mary.  The  ointment  was  a 
costly  gift ;  so  costly,  indeed,  as  to  call  forth  remark 
from  the  disciples.  This  was  the  basis  of  their  expos- 
tulation; that  Mary  should,  for  the  time,  have  im- 
poverished herself  for  so  useless  a  purpose.  But  it 
was  just  this  costliness  that  made  the  anointing 
appear  to  Mary  appropriate ;  and  it  was  the  self- 
sacrifice  which  it  involved,  that  made  it  acceptable 
to  Christ  himself.  For  the  self-sacrifice  was  the  suffi- 
cient evidence  of  the  reality  and  depth  of  her  love. 

We  profess  to  be  disciples  of  Christ.  As  his  dis- 
ciples, we  profess  to  love  Him.  If  this  discipleship 
is  true  discipleship,  and  our  love  is  real  love,  it  will 
be  manifest  in  sacrifice  of  self.  And  when  I  speak 
of  the  sacrifice  of  self,  I  mean  the  costly  outgiving 
of  ourselves  in  some  way  for  the  honor  of  Christ. 
I  do  not  mean  that  it  shall  be  shown  in  some  con- 
spicuous way  before  the  world.  It  is  given  to  few  so 
to  sacrifice  themselves,  that  men  as  well  as  the  Master 
shall  award  them  titles  to  martyrs'  crowns.  The  place 
for  Christian  living,  the  place  for  the  revelation  of 
love  to  Christ  in  sacrifice  of  self,  is  the  lot  in  which 
God  has  placed  you.  Do  not  fear  that  your  lot  is 
wanting  in  opportunities  for  its  display.  There  is  not 
a  day,  not  an  hour,  in  which,  unobserved,  you  may  not 
lay  upon  the  altar  and  sacrifice,  for  Christ's  sake,  some 
impulse  of  your  nature,  which,  if  permitted  to  go  un- 
sacrificed,  would  dishonor  Him.  There  is  not  a  relation 
in  which  you  stand  to  men,  in  which  you  may  not 
find  opportunity  to  deny  yourself  in  love  for  Him 
who  loved  you  and  gave  Himself  for  you.  There  is 
not  a  child  whom  God  has  given  you,  in  connection 
with  whom  you  may  not  deny  your  desires  of  worldly 
honor,  in  order  to  show  your  love  to  the  Redeemer. 


374  SERMONS    ON    THE    CHRISTIAN    LIFE. 

Opportunities  for  self-sacrifice !  They  are  as  abun- 
dant as  the  temptations  of  your  life ;  they  are  as  large 
as  the  wealth  which  God  has  intrusted  to  your  care ; 
they  are  as  costly  as  the  most  precious  objects  of 
your  earthly  affection;  they  recur  with  every  day  of 
your  life  on  earth;  for  every  day,  and  every  talent, 
and  every  possession  are  to  be  laid  upon  the  altar 
for  his  sake.  It  is  only  when  we  thus  sacrifice 
the  whole  of  self,  that  we  reveal  a  love  worthy  our 
discipleship;  and  it  is  only  such  consecration,  that 
will  call  down  upon  us  from  Him  praise  like  that  which 
He  bestowed  upon  Mary,  when  He  said :  "  She  hath 
done  what  she  could."  Love  and  self-sacrifice  then 
are  the  great  distinguishing  traits  of  Christian  labor. 
These  must  always  be  included  in  its  definition.  Not 
this  work,  not  that  work,  not  even  giving  to  the 
poor  as  the  disciples  thought,  not  even  giving  our 
body  to  be  burned  constitutes  Christian  work,  but 
any  toil,  however  secular  or  however  useless,  which 
is  the  genuine  outflow  of  self-sacrificing  love  to 
Christ. 

So  that  the  great  question,  that  we  are  called  to 
ask  ourselves  constantly,  is  not  what  great  things  we 
are  accomplishing,  not  how  wisely  we  are  proceeding, 
important  as  these  questions  are,  but:  Is  the  impel- 
ling motive  of  all  we  do,  a  self-sacrificing  love  of  our 
Lord?  And  that  such  a  love  may  be  ours,  let  us  not 
fail  to  sit  like  Mary,  often  at  his  feet,  and  listen  to 
his  gracious  words.  "  Let  us  often  be  found  in  the 
deep  shades  of  Gethsemane,  and  at  the  foot  of  the 
cross  on  Calvary.  There  let  us  linger,  meditate  and 
pray."  There  shall  we  learn  to  love  Him  more  deeply 
than  we  have  ever  loved  Him.  There  alone  shall  we 
imbibe  a  spirit,  which  will  make  our  whole  life  a  sac- 
rifice of  a  sweet  odor,  and  well  pleasing  in  his  sight. 


THE    REWARD    OF    LOVE.  375 

IV.  But  the  eulogy  thus  spoken  by  our  Lord  not 
only  reveals  the  two  abiding  traits  of  Christian  labor. 
It  also  serves  to  show  the  limit  of  our  responsibility. 
Our  responsibility  is  limited  only  by  our  ability. 
"  She  hath  done  what  she  could."  Mary  exhausted 
her  resources,  and  acted  according  to  her  light  when 
she  anointed  Christ.  It  was  because  such  an  anoint- 
ing seemed  most  appropriate,  that  she  chose  it  as 
the  mark  of  her  affection.  It  was  her  best.  And 
what  we  do  for  Christ  must  be  our  best,  if  we  would 
earn  his  praise. 

But — and  this  is  the  truth  to  which  I  wish  to  call 
your  attention  now — it  is  our  best,  and  not  the  best 
that  some  one  else  could  have  done,  which  secures 
for  us  our  Lord's  approval.  The  disciples  believed 
that  they  could  have  expended  the  money  to  better 
purpose  than  Mary.  Well,  suppose  that  they  could. 
The  Lord  did  not  judge  Mary  by  the  disciples'  wis- 
dom. He  did  not  expect  the  man  with  two  talents  to 
accomplish  as  much  as  the  man  with  live.  You  may 
make  grave  mistakes  in  the  gifts  that  you  bestow  upon 
objects  of  charity.  But  if,  in  self-denying  love  of  your 
Lord,  you  make  the  bestowal,  the  Lord  will  reward 
you  not  according  to  your  mistakes,  but  according  to 
your  love.  In  the  parable  of  the  talents,  is  the  wick- 
ed servant  denounced  simply  because  he  hid  the  tal- 
ent in  a  napkin  ?  I  do  not  so  read  it.  If  he  had 
loved  his  Lord,  and  had  supposed  that  the  hiding  was 
the  best  use  that  he  could  make  of  his  Lord's  money, 
and  so  returned  it — doubt  not  that  his  generous 
master  would  have  praised  his  love  if  not  his  wis- 
dom. But  instead  of  loving  he  hates  his  master, 
and  reveals  his  hatred  in  the  words  :  "  I  knew  thee 
that  thou  art  a  hard  man,  reaping  where  thou  hast 
not    sown,    and    gathering    where    thou    hast    not 


376  SERMONS    ON    THE    CHRISTIAN   LIFE. 

strewed,  and  so  I  hid  thy  talent."  And  it  was  be- 
cause of  not  his  want  of  wisdom,  but  his  want  of 
love  that  his  Lord  denounced  him.  Mother,  do  your 
best  with  your  children  for  Christ's  sake,  and  do  not 
fear  that  you  will  lose  your  reward  because  of  your 
want  of  wisdom.  Man  of  business,  work  for  Christ 
everywhere  and  every  way  you  can,  and  doubt  not 
that  even  your  mistakes,  if  they  are  committed  in 
love  for  the  Lord,  will  receive,  not  a  rebuke,  but  a 
reward  from  Him,  and  not  only  so,  but  they  will  be 
made  to  bless  mankind. 

V.  For — and  this  is  the  last  truth  to  which  I  advert — 
the  Lord  takes  good  care  af  the  results  of  all  loving 
and  self-sacrificing,  though  it  seem  mistaken,  work 
for  him.  Suppose  that  we  call  Mary's  anointing  a 
mistake ;  suppose  that  we  say  it  was  useless ;  suppose 
that  we  go  further  and  say  that  it  was  indelicate  to 
obtrude  herself  on  the  Saviour  in  the  circumstances. 
What  then  ?  This  at  least  is  obvious :  her  conduct 
sprang  from  her  love  to  the  Saviour,  and,  therefore, 
Christ  took  care,  not  only  that  Mary  should  be  re- 
warded, but  also  that  her  love  should  bless  the  world. 
For,  first,  He  made  it  a  blessing  to  the  very  disciples 
who  rebuked  her.  It  became  the  occasion  of  teach- 
ing them  a  lesson,  which,  as  the  founders  of  the 
Christian  Church,  they  needed  clearly  to  understand. 
And  He  also  made  its  influence  beneficent  for  all  time 
and  throughout  the  whole  world.  "  Verily  I  say  un- 
to you,  wherever  this  Gospel  shall  be  preached,  this 
also  which  this  woman  hath  done  shall  be  told  for  a 
memorial  of  her."  And  from  that  day  to  this,  it  has 
enkindled  the  love  and  nerved  the  arms  of  his  peo- 
ple;  and  it  will  continue  to  do  so  until  He  shall  come 
again.  And  it  will  be  so  with  us.  The  labor  is  ours; 
but  it    is    his  to    make    it  sufficient.     None  of  our 


THE    REWARD    OF   LOVE.  377 

Christian  labor,  if  it  bo  born  of  self-sacrificing  love, 
can  fail.  Let  us  remember  and  believe  this ;  let  us 
give  more,  and  do  more,  laboring  with  encouraged 
hearts,  and  battling  with  new  inspiration.  For  the 
gifts  of  our  charity  are  in  his  remembrance,  and  the 
Beed  of  our  planting  is  in  his  nurture;  and  the  re- 
ward of  our  toil  is  in  his  keeping,  and  the  victory 
of  our  conflict  is  his  to  vouchsafe,  who  esteems  as 
infinitely  more  valuable  than  all  human  might  or 
wisdom,  his  people's  self-denying  love. 

Brethren,  let  us  thank  God  that  we  are  the  dis- 
ciples of  such  a  Teacher,  the  servants  of  a  Lord  so 
charitable  in  judgment,  so  generous  in  reward,  lie 
sends  us  into  the  world  as  the  Father  sent  Him.  He 
honors  us  in  calling  us  to  complete  the  work  which 
by  his  death  He  made  possible.  If  we  give  our 
lives  to  Him  in  love  and  devotion  like  those 
of  Mary,  our  most  secular  labors  will  be  labors 
for  his  Kingdom  and  our  seeming  errors  will  be 
made  to  bless  mankind.  For  He  is  Head  over  all 
things  to  his  Church;  and,  since  He  makes  the  wrath 
of  man  to  praise  Him,  doubt  not  that  He  will  take 
care  that  the  living  sacrifices  of  his  people  shall 
magnify  his  love  and  hasten  the  world's  redemp- 
tion. Amazing  and  infinite  grace  is  this  of  Jesus 
Christ  our  Lord !  It  were  enough  to  awaken  eternal 
gratitude  to  know  that  He  freely  blesses  sinners  with 
salvation.  Yet  this  is  but  the  first  of  his  bestow- 
ments.  Once  redeemed,  they  become  his  represen- 
tatives in  the  world;  and  when,  as  such,  they  labor 
in  his  love,  their  reward  can  not  fail,  or  their  work 
be  in  vain.  If  but  the  love  of  Christ  pervades  our 
lives  and  constrain  our  sacrifice,  the  Spirit  of  Christ 
must  follow  our  doing  and  bearing  in  his  name.  We 
may  not,  indeed,  see  now  the  fruit  of  our  planting; 


378  SERMONS    ON    THE   CHRISTIAN    LIFE. 

for  the  harvest  of  the  Church  is  the  consummation 
of  all  things.  But  the  Master's  word  is  pledged. 
The  sun  of  his  grace,  and  the  rain  of  his  Spirit 
now  nourishes  the  seed  we  sow ;  and  the  ripened 
grain  will  be  gathered  and  garnered  at  the  last. 
O,  doubting,  despairing  Christian  laborer,  father, 
mother,  teacher,  friend,  wherever  or  however  under- 
going or  overcoming  in  Christ's  love  for  men ;  in 
view  of  these  blessed  truths,  why  should  you  de- 
spair? Of  work  for  Christ  at  least,  it  is  true,  that 
in  due  season  you  shall  reap  if  you  faint  not. 

There  may  be  those  before  me  who  are  giving 
their  lives  to  other  masters  than  the  Lord  we  profess 
to  serve.  My  friends,  we  are  not  ashamed  to  have 
you  set  side  by  side  yours  and  ours.  Nay,  we  beg 
you  to  make  the  comparison.  Think  of  the  Head 
of  the  Church — Jesus  Christ,  the  object  of  our  love 
and  hope  and  endeavor,  as  He  is  presented  in  the 
incident  from  which  my  text  is  taken — and  then 
think  of  the  object  of  your  endeavors.  I  care  not 
what  it  is,  however  low  or  lofty;  wealth,  power, 
social  position,  art,  knowledge,  earthly  pleasure. 
You  are  never  sure  of  your  reward.  If  you  obtain 
it,  it  can  not  meet  the  wants  of  your  highest  being 
while  it  lasts ;  and  it  can  last  only  with  this  brittle 
life,  which  at  best  is  soon  rounded  with  the  sleep  of 
death.  Your  Master  bestows  his  highest  rewards  on 
those  with  special  aptitudes.  If  ever  you  labor  mis- 
takenly, you  pay  the  full  penalty  of  your  mistake; 
and  your  very  masters  are  themselves  the  sport  of 
time  and«change.  Wonder  not,  then,  that  they  who 
give  themselves  to  this  world  grow  cynical  and  bitter 
as  years  increase,  and  cry  out,  like  the  wisest  of  them, 
"Vanity  of  vanities."  Our  Lord  alone  demands  no 
special  aptitude  but   love.      Our   Lord  alone   says: 


THE   REWARD   OF   LOVE.  379 

"Well  done ! "  to  all  his  faithful  servants.  He  alone 
is  the  Lord  of  time,  and  above  all  change.  His 
rewards  alone  are  satisfying  and  enduring.  There- 
fore, we  bid  you  come  to  Jesus  Christ  in  faith. 
Young  man  or  woman  beginning  life,  and  you  who 
already  have  tasted  the  bitterness  of  disappointment, 
Christ  calls  you  lovingly  to  his  service,  with  two 
talents,  or  with  live,  or  with  but  one.  Make  Him  your 
Lord;  and  if  you  can  but  give  a  cup  of  cold  water  to 
man  in  love  of  Him,  your  reward  can  not  fail ;  and 
that  reward  will  be  incorrnptible,  and  undeiiled,  and 
will  never  fade  away. 


XXV. 

THE  JUDGMENT  OF  THE  SPIRITUAL  MAN. 

"  But  he  that  is  spiritual,  judgeth  all  things."— I.  CoKlNTHlANS 
ii,  15. 

If  you  will  read  carefully  the  beginning  of  this 
letter  of  the  Apostle  to  the  Church  at  Corinth,  you 
will  observe  that  it  is  taken  up  with  a  defense  of  his 
conduct,  as  a  preacher  of  the  Gospel  of  Christ.  With 
a  great  deal  of  care,  he  argues  the  wisdom  of  the 
course  adopted  by  him,  when  he  first  visited  their 
city  as  an  Apostle  of  the  new  religion ;  the  course, 
namely,  of  knowing  nothing  among  them,  save 
Jesus  Christ  and  Him  crucified.  Instead  of  ap- 
pearing among  them — as  we  may  suppose  a  mis- 
sionary of  the  old  dispensation  would  have  done 
— appealing  to  their  hearts  and  consciences  by 
means  of  ritual  and  tradition,  or  instead  of  ap- 
pearing as  a  philosopher,  appealing  to  their  reason 
with  the  wisdom  of  this  world,  he  came  declaring 
in  simplicity,  as  neither  Jew  nor  Greek  would  have 
done,  the  spiritual  Gospel  of  the  Son  of  God. 

For  a  reason,  which  it  is  not  necessary  to  dwell 
upon  at  this  time,  Paul,  when  he  wrote  this  epistle, 

(380) 


THE   JUDGMENT   OF    THE    SPIRITUAL    MAN.  381 

felt  called  upon  to  justify  his  conduct  in  coming 
to  them,  not  with  the  wisdom  of  this  world — 
which  undoubtedly  in  this  connection  means  a  sys- 
tem of  philosophy — nor  with  signs  like  those  for 
which  a  Jew  would  seek,  but  with  the  simple  truths 
and  revelations,  which  constitute  the  faith  of  Cal- 
vary. In  the  course  of  this  argument  in  his  own 
defense,  he  states  some  of  the  most  important 
truths  in  regard  to  spiritual  things,  contained  in 
the  New  Testament,  such  as  the  following:  "Eye 
hath  not  seen,  nor  ear  heard,  neither  have  en- 
tered into  the  heart  of  man  the  things  which  God 
hath  prepared  for  them  that  love  Him.  But  God 
hath  revealed  them  unto  us  by  his  Spirit."  And 
again :  "  "What  man  knoweth  the  things  of  a  man, 
save  the  spirit  of  man  which  is  in  him  ?  Even  so  the 
things  of  God  knoweth  no  man,  but  the  Spirit  of 
God."  And  again  :  "  The  natural  man  receiveth  not 
the  things  of  the  spirit  of  God,  for  they  are  foolish- 
ness unto  him,  neither  can  he  know  them,  for  they 
are  spiritually  discerned."  And  again,  in  the  words 
of  the  text :  "  He  that  is  spiritual,  judgeth  all  things." 
I  wish  this  morning  to  separate  this  statement  of  the 
Apostle:  "He  that  is  spiritual,  judgeth  all  things," 
from  the  context,  and  from  the  circumstances  which 
led  to  its  utterance,  and  to  consider  it  as  a  distinct 
and  general  proposition.  I  wish  to  show  in  what 
senses  it  is  true,  that  a  spiritual  man  judgeth  all 
tilings;  and  to  set  forth,  as  distinctly  as  I  may  be 
able,  the  very  practical  and  important  lessons  that 
it  is  designed  to  teach. 

I  need  not  take  the  time  required  to  discuss  the 
meaning  of  the  word  spiritual,  either  as  the  Apos- 
tle uses  it  or  as  I  intend  to  employ  it.  We  all  un- 
derstand  it   to    express   both  the    character   to    be 


382  SERMONS    ON    THE    CHRISTIAN    LIFE. 

affirmed  of  a  man,  and  the  source  of  the  character 
itself.  A  spiritual  man  is  more  than  a  moral  man, 
as  we  usually  employ  the  term  moral;  because  he  is 
moral  on  spiritual  grounds,  for  spiritual  reasons; 
because  the  fountain  and  origin  of  his  morality  lies 
in  his  spiritual  and  heavenly  mindedness.  He,  who 
is  spiritual,  communes  with  God,  loves  prayer,  dwells 
with  delight  on  the  things  unseen  and  eternal  which 
God  has  revealed  by  his  Spirit.  He  has  tasted  the 
powers  of  the  world  to  come;  his  faith  has  pierced 
the  veil  which  conceals  from  the  merely  earthly 
minded  those  sublime,  eternal  certainties  which  eye 
hath  not  seen,  nor  ear  heard,  nor  heart  conceived. 
The  light  of  eternity  shines  upon  earthly  things, 
and  He  beholds  and  judges  them  in  that  celestial 
light.  The  power  of  an  endless  life  rests  upon  the 
life  that  now  is.  "  The  life  that  he  lives  in  the  flesh, 
he  lives  by  the  faith  of  the  Son  of  God."  I  confi- 
dently assume  that  there  exists  no  power  on  earth, 
other  than  the  Gospel  of  Jesus  Christ,  adequate  to 
bestow  this  spiritual  character  on  man;  and,  there- 
fore, I  use  the  terms,  Christian  man  and  spiritual,  as 
interchangeable;  only  asking  you  to  remember  that 
he  alone  is  truly  a  Christian  who  is  also  truly  spir- 
itual. 

I.  Now  with  this  brief  explanation  of  terms  in  our 
minds,  I  ask  you  to  notice  first,  an  unconscious,  or 
at  least  an  involuntary  judgment  pronounced  by  the 
Christian  on  character.  I  say  involuntary,  because 
there  is  to  be  affirmed  of  it  no  active  exercise  of  the 
faculty  of  judgment.  The  Christian,  by  being  a 
Christian,  the  spiritual  man  by  reason  simply  of 
the  fact  of  his  spirituality,  judgeth  all  things.  To 
illustrate  what  I  am  endeavoring  to  make  clear,  we 
all  have  heard  of,  and  are  familiar  through  its  copies 


THE    JUDGMENT    OF    THE    SPIRITUAL    MAN.  383 

with  the  face  of  that  Madonna,  painted  by  the  mas- 
ter whose  name  has  given  title  to  our  modern  art. 
So  satisfying,  so  answering  to  the  unformed  image 
whose  separate  elements  we  had  been  unable  to 
combine,  is  it,  that  it  has  become  the  Christian 
world's  ideal  of  the  woman  who  was  so  highly  fa- 
vored of  the  Most  High.  As  often  as  we  think  of 
the  Virgin,  this  face  stands  before  us  with  its  won- 
drous love  and  awe  and  rapture.  Now  suppose  this 
well-nigh  perfect  symbol  ^placed  side  by  side  with 
some  lower  and  defective  representation.  Do  you  not 
see  that  the  very  contact  of  the  two  compels  the 
judgment  of  the  one  by  the  other?  The  defects  of 
the  lower  symbol  appear  with  greater  distinctness, 
and  its  more  positive  faults  impress  you  as  they 
never  did  before;  until  that  which  before  the  com- 
parison may  have  seemed  completely  to  embody 
your  ideal  of  the  mother  of  Jesus  of  Nazareth,  is 
rejected  as  entirely  unworthy.  The  clear  outshining 
of  the  beauty  of  the  one  judges  the  defects  and 
faults  of  the  other,  and  so  condemns  it.  In  all 
this  process  the  picture,  of  course,  plays  no  conscious 
or  voluntary  part.  Its  simple  existence  is  a  judg- 
ment and  condemnation  of  the  other  when  placed  by 
its  side.  Just  such  an  involuntary  and,  perhaps,  un- 
conscious judgment  of  character  by  the  Christian,  the 
really  spiritual  man,  is,  doubtless,  the  most  effective 
work  that  he  does  in  the  world.  His  purity,  his  spir- 
itual and  heavenly  mindedness,  his  earnestness  in 
labor  for  the  good  of  men,  the  breadth  of  his  love, 
the  depth  of  his  devotion,  the  voluntariness  and  cheer- 
fulness of  his  sacriiices — as  these  traits  of  character 
are  manifested,  who  does  not  understand  me  when 
I  say,  that  such  a  man,  though  he  does  it  involun- 
tarily, though  he  may  even  be  unconscious  of  the 


384  SERMONS   ON   THE   CHRISTIAN   LIFE. 

tact,  judges  and  condemns  those  around  him  in  whom 
these  traits  are  wanting. 

The  more  I  study  the  life  and  character  of  Jesus 
Christ  as  a  man  among  men,  the  more  deeply  does 
this  power  of  his  life  impress  me.  If  I  were  asked, 
what  more  than  any  thing  else  awoke  that  enmity, 
which  finally  led  to  his  crucifixion,  I  should  answer, 
that  it  was  not  his  words,  condemning  wickedness 
and  wicked  men;  for,  though  these  were  sometimes 
terrible,  they  were  not  often  spoken,  and  when  they 
were,  it  was  with  a  tenderness  and  solicitude,  which 
must,  for  the  time  at  least,  have  disarmed  all  hostility. 
Neither  was  it  any  real  fear  on  the  part  of  those  in 
power  that  He  would  destroy  their  authority  with 
Borne  or  with  the  people,  and  grasp  the  power  that 
they  possessed.  This  He  never  sought  to  do,  and  they 
were  well  aware  of  it.  But  the  simple  presence  of 
a  life  like  his — so  pure,  so  holy,  so  loving,  so  benef- 
icent, so  devoted  to  God  and  to  the  best  interests 
of  man — the  mere  outflow  of  his  perfect  spirituality 
judged  them  and  their  spurious  religionism,  their  hy- 
pocrisy; and  judging,  condemned  them.  And  so  it 
was,  that  those  of  them,  who  did  not  repent  and  turn 
to  God  in  prayer  and  faith,  were  led  to  cry :  "  Away 
with  him,  let  him  be  crucified!"  This  was  the  con- 
demnation ;  that  the  light  shone,  and  by  its  very  shin- 
ing condemned  their  deeds  of  darkness.  No  wonder 
that  they  hated  Him.  No  wonder  that  they  shunned 
and  would  not  come  to  Him.  Not  that  his  heart  was 
not  full  of  love  and  pity  for  them  as  for  all  other  sin- 
ful men ;  but  they  would  not  come  to  Him,  because 
they  knew  that  his  contact  with  themselves  would 
be  like  the  shining  0f  the  sun  on  a  stagnant  pool; 
revealing  the  seeds  of  disease  which  the  darkness 
had  served  to  conceal.     So  Christ,  not  as  the  Law- 


THE   JUDGMENT    OF    TIIE    SPIRITUAL    MAN.  385 

giver  or  the  Judge,  but  as  the  holy  and  perfect  Man, 
unconsciously,  certainly  involuntarily,  judged  all 
things,  all  men,  all  systems,  all  teachers,  all  moral- 
ity, all  characters.  He  shone  in  Palestine,  as  the 
sun  shines  on  the  earth ;  revealing  and  so  commend- 
ing moral  beauty  where  it  had  been  concealed;  and 
revealing  and  therefore  judging  and  condemning  evil, 
in  men  and  methods,  which,  before  he  rose  above 
the  horizon,  men  had  reverenced  as  holy  and  from 
God. 

It  is  important,  Christian  friends,  that  we  remem- 
ber, that  we  are  in  the  world,  just  as  Christ  was 
in  the  world.  We  are  the  light  of  the  world ;  and 
we  are  not  only  by  the  profession  of  faith,  and  by 
more  active  labors  to  startle  men  into  activity  in 
the  religious  life;  but,  as  the  more  important  part 
of  our  mission,  we  are  to  let  our  light  shine;  so  that 
without  our  knowledge,  and  certainly  without  our 
positive  efforts,  men  will  feel  themselves  judged  and 
condemned,  and  thus  will  begin  the  work  of  prepa- 
ration to  enter  the  Kingdom  of  God.  "It  is  uni- 
versally conceded  that  the  argument  of  a  holy  and 
beautiful  life  is  unanswerable;"  and  it  is  this  argu- 
ment more  than  any  other  which  Christ  would  have 
all  his  people  urge.  We  call  men,  who  are  Chris- 
tians, to  confess  Christ  publicly  with  their  lips,  be- 
cause we  believe,  as  Christ  himself  has  taught  us, 
that  the  weight  of  such  public  confession  can  not 
but  add  greatly  to  the  force  of  Christian  statement 
from  the  pulpit.  But  what  is  the  weight  of  a  for- 
mal confession  to  the  solid  worth  of  the  confession 
of  a  consistent  life?  The  one  is  made  once  for  all, 
or  as  opportunity  is  given;  the  other  is  permanent, 
unvarying,  from  day  to  day  the  same;  the  ceaseless 
shining   of  the   sun   from  year  to  year  around  the 


386  SERMONS    ON    TIIE    CHRISTIAN    LIFE. 

world,  revealing  and  judging,  commending  or  con- 
demning all  things  on  which  his  light  may  fall. 

We  are  accustomed  to  pray,  that  our  lives  may  be 
consistent  with  our  Christian  profession ;  that  we  may 
walk  worthy  of  the  vocation  wherewith  we  are 
called.  I  wish  that  we  might  always,  when  offering 
this  prayer,  have  a  due  sense  of  the  necessity  of 
consistency;  a  necessity  growing  out  of  the  fact,  that 
so  alone  can  we  judge  others  in  a  way  that  will  con- 
demn them,  and  bring  them  humbled  to  Him  who 
alone  can  make  them  holy.  0  brethren,  let  us  re- 
member our  vocation  and  our  vow  to  let  the  light, 
which  Christ  gives  us,  shine  along  the  pathway  of 
our  lives.  Would  that  we  might  realize  this  power 
of  judgment  that  belongs  to  spiritual  living!  If 
they  are  not  here  to  reproduce  the  life  of  Jesus 
Himself,  and  so  to  become  lights  that  shall  reveal 
men  to  themselves,  standards  by  which  men  may 
learn  both  their  need  and  the  source  of  their  supply; 
I  know  no  reason  why  Christians  are  called  to  re- 
main on  earth,  away  from  their  Father's  presence  and 
his  home.  Even  supposing  no  positively  vicious  in- 
fluence to  flow  from  the  inconsistency  of  a  Chris- 
tian man  or  woman,  it  is  enough  to  awaken  a  whole- 
some fear  of  it  to  remember,  that  by  it  we  are  neglect- 
ing to  judge  the  multitudes,  with  whom  in  our  daily 
lives  we  come  in  contact.  This  sin  of  permitting 
men  to  remain  in  darkness — so  far  as  the  failure  to 
let  our  light  shine  permits  them  to  do  so — is  not 
the  consciousness  of  it  enough,  if  that  were  all,  to 
arouse  us  to  the  strong  agony  of  prayer  and  effort, 
that  our  lives  may  be  so  spiritual,  that  their  out- 
shining will  judge  the  lives  of  men,  and,  by  judg- 
ing, show  to  them  the  one  source  of  eternal  life? 

II.  Quite  a  different  truth   is   the  second,  that  I 


THE    JUDGMENT    OF    THE    SPIRITUAL    MAN.  387 

notice  as  contained  in  this  statement  of  the  Apostle : 
"  He  that  is  spiritual  judgeth  all  things."  It  teaches 
us  wherein  lies  the  safety  of  permitting  so  much  lib- 
erty to  the  Christian  in  the  New  Dispensation.  It 
teaches  us  also  the  condition  upon  which  this  liberty 
is  enjoyed.  Both  the  safety  and  the  condition  of  the 
liberty  lie  in  the  fact  that  the  Christian  is  spiritual. 
We  are  very  fond  of  referring  to  our  liberty  as  the 
disciples  of  Christ;  we  rejoice  and  give  thanks,  that 
we  are  relieved  from  the  bondage  to  which  our  spir- 
itual fathers  under  the  Mosaic  law  were  subjected. 
We  love  to  contrast  the  system  of  minute  regula- 
tions, which  constituted  the  Hebrew  law  of  religious 
living,  with  the  freedom  which  breathes  from  every 
page  of  the  New  Testament.  We  place  the  law  of 
ordinances  side  by  side  with  the  law  of  love,  the  self- 
denials  commanded  by  God  side  by  side  with  the  vol- 
untary self-denials  practiced  by  the  Christian,  the  old 
rites  and  ceremonies  with  the  present  entire  absence  of 
them;  and  we  are  filled  no  doubt  with  sincere  grati- 
tude, that  our  religious  lives  are  developed  under  the 
influence  of  a  system,  whose  great  characteristic  is 
the  liberty  of  the  individual  disciple.  Now  all  this 
joy  and  congratulation  and  thanksgiving  are  very 
well,  if  we  are  careful  to  remember  two  things:  first, 
what  exactly  this  liberty  is,  and  secondly,  the  condi- 
tion on  which  we  may  safely  exercise  it.  But  these, 
I  fear,  we  are  all  liable  to  either  mistake  or  forget. 

What  then  is  this  liberty  enjoyed  by  the  Christian 
disciple?  It  is  certainly  not  freedom  of  action.  The 
moral  distinctions,  so  clearly  set  forth  in  the  Old 
Testament,  are  neither  abrogated  nor  ignored  in  the 
New.  Indeed,  this  liberty  is  not  even  freedom  of  ac- 
tion in  respect  to  things  morall}'  indifferent.  A  Chris- 
tian does  not  possess  the  right  to  do  or  leave  undone 


388  SERMONS    ON    THE    CHRISTIAN    LIFE. 

any  act,  just  because  in  itself  it  is  neither  right 
nor  wrong.  The  liberty  of  the  New  Testament  is 
a  liberty  not  of  action,  but  of  judgment.  It  is  well 
expressed  in  the  text,  and  the  words  which  imme- 
diately follow  it:  "He  that  is  spiritual  judgeth  all 
things,  and  is  judged  of  no  man."  In  no  particu- 
lar are  the  Old  and  New  Testaments  to  be  more 
forcibly  contrasted,  than  in  the  absence  of  the  rules 
of  conduct  in  the  latter,  of  which  there  are  such  a 
number  and  such  a  variety  in  the  former.  The 
Hebrew  found  himself  shut  up  on  every  side  by  a 
system  of  precepts  so  minute  and  so  varied,  that  he 
could  with  difficulty  be  placed  in  any  position  for 
which  he  could  not  find  a  definite  behest.  And  his 
religion,  the  practical  and  active  side  of  it  at  least, 
consisted  largely  in  his  obedience  to  these  precepts, 
the  reason  of  many  of  which,  it  is  fair  to  pre- 
sume, he  was  unable  to  understand.  It  is  not  diffi- 
cult to  perceive  the  wisdom  of  God  in  ordaining  a 
system  so  complex  and  comprehensive  as  the  Mosaic 
Law  is,  when  the  condition  of  the  people  for  whose 
government  it  was  intended,  is  remembered.  Brought 
out  of  Egypt,  where  they  had  lived  in  the  most  de- 
grading servitude,  with  little  knowledge  of  the  true 
God,  they  were  the  veriest  children  in  spiritual 
things,  and,  like  all  children,  they  needed  to  be 
directed  by  very  severe  and  specific  laws.  A  clearer 
revelation,  a  less  burdened  ritual,  a  freer  and  more 
spiritual  religion  Avould  have  been  of  little  use  to 
them.  It  was  only  after  men  had  been  educated  by 
the  dispensation  of  rule,  and  been  raised  to  a  higher 
plane  of  spiritual  living,  that  they  were  ready  for  its 
abrogation.  The  fullness  of  time  at  last  came,  the 
types  and  shadows  of  the  law  were  fulfilled  in  the 
Gospel.     The  religion,  whose  characteristic  was  rule 


THE   JUDGMENT    OF    THE    SPIRITUAL    MAN.  389 

and  ritual,  gave  way  to  the  new  religion,  whose 
greatest  glory  is  that  it  is  spiritual,  therefore  free. 
It  requires  no  extended  discussion  to  convince  us, that 
while  detailed  rules  and  precepts  were  eminently 
appropriate  in  the  preparatory  and  ceremonial  age  of 
our  religion,  they  could  with  propriety  find  no  place 
in  the  final  dispensation :  just  because  the  latter  is 
spiritual,  because  of  its  clearer  and  more  direct  reve- 
lation of  God  and  our  relations  to  Him,  because  of 
the  more  enlarged  intelligence  of  the  New  Testament 
disciple. 

The  theory  of  the  New  Testament,  if  I  may  use 
the  word  theory  in  connection  with  such  a  subject,  is 
that  the  Christian,  because  of  the  new  revelation  which 
God  has  made,  because  of  the  close  relations  that 
subsist  between  him  and  his  Saviour,  and  because 
of  his  own  spiritual  character,  is  able  himself  to  an- 
swer the  questions  of  duty  which  inevitably  arise  in 
his  life.  Thus  he  is  at  liberty,  no  longer  a  bonds- 
man to  laws  and  precepts  and  ordinances.  Being 
spiritual,  "he  judgethall  things,  and  is  judged  of  no 
man." 

You  will  observe  then,  Christian  friends,  and  this 
is  the  practical  truth  which  we  ought  to  remember, 
that,  while  as  Christians  we  enjoy  perfect  liberty  of 
judgment  in  regard  to  all  courses  of  conduct,  all  the 
acts  and  habits  of  our  lives;  the  ground  and  reason 
of  this  liberty  is  our  spirituality.  It  is  because  we 
are  so  near  to  Christ;  because  his  revelation  is  so 
clear;  because  the  means  of  grace  are  so  plentiful 
and  powerful ;  because  communion  with  God  is  so 
free ;  because  we  have  knowledge  and  power  which 
the  saints  of  old  did  not  possess,  that  we  are  free  to 
judge  for  ourselves.  And  therefore  it  becomes  us  to 
remember,  that  while  our  judgment  is  free,  the  judg- 


390  SERMONS    ON    TIIE    CHRISTIAN    LIFE. 

ment,  in  every  case  that  comes  before  us,  must  be 
rendered  on  high  spiritual  grounds.  If  it  is  not  so 
rendered,  we  forfeit  the  right  because  we  ignore  the 
condition  of  our  liberty. 

For  freedom,  whether  in  political  society,  or  in  re- 
ligion, is  not  a  blessing  to  be  bestowed  on  all  alike. 
No  parent  thinks  of  permitting  a  child  to  exercise  it. 
There  are  nations  which  have  recently  shown  them- 
selves utterly  unprepared  for  it.  There  was  a  time 
also,  when  it  could  not  safely  be  given  to  the  Church 
of  God.  Now  it  is  bestowed.  But  he  who  receives 
and  exercises  freedom,  does  so  at  his  peril.  Men  have 
been  wrecked  by  it,  because  they  have  forgotten  the 
prime  condition,  that  it  must  have  at  its  foundation 
this  spirituality  which  Christ  in  his  Gospel  alone  be- 
stows. He  alone  that  is  spiritual;  he  alone,  who  like 
Paul  in  judging,  remembers  his  relations  to  God,  to 
Christ  and  to  his  fellow  men  ;  he  alone  who  has  learned 
to  say,  "  if  meat  make  my  brother  to  offend,  I  will  eat 
no  flesh  while  the  world  standeth ; "  he  alone,  whose 
conduct  is  determined  by  faith  and  hope  and  love  in 
the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  is  spiritual,  and  may  there- 
fore judge  all  things  and  be  judged  by  no  man. 

III.  I  should  like  to  dwell  on  this  truth  at  greater 
length,  because  I  regard  it  as  one  of  the  most  important 
subjects  that  can  engage  the  attention  of  Christian 
men,  in  these  days  especially,  when  relations  are  so 
complex  and  cases  of  conscience  are  so  many.  I 
pass  on,  however,  to  notice  in  conclusion  one  other 
truth  taught  in  the  text,  namely ;  the  mode  of  the 
soul's  growth  in  the  knowledge  of  religious  and  spir- 
itual truth.     And  here  I  shall  be  very  brief. 

It  would  have  been  one  thing  if  the  Apostle  had 
said:  " He  that  judgcth  all  things  is  spiritual."  lie 
would  in  such  a  statement  have  taught  that  the  way 


THE   JUDGMENT    OF    THE    SPIRITUAL    MAN.  391 

to  divine  knowledge  and  to  holiness  lies  through  the 
intellect.  In  saying,  on  the  other  hand,  that  he 
that  is  spiritual  judgeth  all  things,  he  teaches  that 
the  path  to  divine  knowledge  lies  through  the  heart. 
The  truth,  thus  stated,  is  the  truth  taught  by 
Jesus  himself  in  the  words  so  often  quoted :  "  If  any 
man  will  do  the  will  of  God,  he  shall  know  the  doc- 
trine." I  can  not  stop  to  unfold  it.  I  can  only 
reiterate  the  truth,  that  the  path  to  divine  knowl- 
edge is  the  path  of  obedience;  that  the  growth 
in  the  knowledge  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  is  the  re- 
sult rather  than  the  cause  of  growth  in  grace ;  that 
the  Gospel  addresses  itself  primarily  to  the  heart  and 
conscience,  rather  than  to  the  understanding  of 
man.  It  is  only  when  man's  spiritual,  man's 
religious  nature  is  awakened  from  the  lethargy 
in  which  it  is  sunk  by  the  pressure  of  earthly 
cares  and  by  sin — it  is  only  when  the  spiritual  na- 
ture is  aroused,  that  man  can  begin  to  know  God 
or  spiritual  truth. 

This  statement  might  be  applied  in  many  direc- 
tions. Let  me  only  say  to  Christians,  that  it  should 
impel  them  to  seek  in  their  hearts  the  source  of 
their  ignorance  of  God.  It  is  in  the  coldness,  may 
I  not  say  the  deadness  of  our  spiritual  sensibilities, 
that  we  shall  find  the  reason  why  we  can  not  ap- 
preciate the  higher  revelations  of  the  New  Testa- 
ment. All  of  us  doubtless  find  many  of  the  state- 
ments of  the  New  Testament  dark  sayings;  but  their 
darkness  may  all  be  resolved  into  our  spiritual  in- 
ertness. Only  he  that  is  spiritual  can  judge  all 
things.  Only  he  that  is  spiritual  can  discern  the 
mind  of  the  Spirit  in  the  Word  and  the  Providence 
of  God.  "Sin  in  the  heart  is  the  most  fruitful 
source    of  error  in  the  head,"  in  respect   to    God's 


392  SERMONS   ON    THE   CHRISTIAN   LIFE. 

truth.  No  disciple  will  learn  God's  mind,  until  he 
shall  come  with  ear  and  eye  and  heart  all  opened, 
and  his  spirit  docile  to  the  teachings  of  the  Most 
High.  This  Bible,  with  its  sublime  unfoldings  of 
the  ways  of  God  to  men,  will  be  a  sealed  book  to 
every  one  who  does  not  come  to  it  quickened  in  the 
spirit.  There  is  a  sense,  in  which  we  must  read  it 
on  our  knees,  if  we  would  understand  it  in  its  re- 
lations to  our  own  souls.  For  only  on  our  knees,  in 
communion  with  the  Most  High,  can  we  gain  that 
power  of  spiritual  vision,  which  will  enable  us  to 
read  aright  and  judge  aright  the  truths  and  facts, 
the  promises  and  prophecies  which  it  contains.  He 
alone  that  is  spiritual  judgeth  all  things. 

In  view  of  this  truth  last  announced,  I  speak  to 
all  before  me,  in  announcing  the  Gospel  of  the  Son 
of  God.  He  that  believeth  hath  life;  he  that  be- 
lieveth  not  hath  not  life.  I  hold  up  Christ  to  you, 
and  on  the  authority  of  this  revelation  of  the  liv- 
ing God  affirm,  that  the  only  path  to  that  divine 
knowledge  which  is  itself  eternal  life — the  only 
method  of  growth  in  holiness  —  is  through  that 
spiritual  quickening  which  comes  through  faith  in 
the  Son  of  God.  This  we  declare  to  be  the  last 
hope  at  once  of  the  world  and  of  the  single  soul. 
He  alone  that  is  spiritual  can  judge  all  things — 
duty,  truth,  or  eternal  safety;  and  the  one  source 
of  this  spirituality  is  He  who  is  the  way  to  duty, 
the  truth,  and  the  life.  Therefore,  let  us  believe  in 
Him,  learn  of  Him,  live  in  Him.  Through  Him 
alone  can  we  obtain  power  to  judge  all  things  that 
G-od  has  already  revealed;  and  through  Him  alone 
can  we  be  prepared  for  that  clearer  revelation  of 
God,  when  we  shall  see  Him  face  to  face,  and  know 
Him  as  we  are  known. 


XXVI. 
HOPE  AND  PURITY. 

"And  every  man  that  hath  this  hope  in  him  purifieth  him- 
self, even  as  he  is  pure." — I.  John  iii,  3. 

The  verse  which  immediately  precedes  the  text  is 
as  follows :  "  Beloved,  now  are  we  the  sons  of  God, 
and  it  doth  not  yet  appear  what  we  shall  be :  but  we 
know  that,  when  Christ  shall  appear,  we  shall  be  like 
Him ;  for  we  shall  see  Him  as  He  is."  In  this  verse, 
you  will  observe,  there  is  a  very  clear  statement  of 
the  relations  which  the  Christian  now  sustains  to 
God.  "  Beloved,  now  are  we  the  sons  of  God."  I 
wish  that  all  of  us,  who  have  accepted  Christ  as  our 
Saviour,  might  oftener  reflect  on  the  intimacy  of  the 
relation  thus  brought  to  view.  Could  we  interpret 
all  the  dealings  of  God's  providence  in  the  light  of 
it;  could  we  not  only  believe,  but  feel  that  every 
thing  is  as  it  is,  and  comes  just  when  and  how  it 
comes  to  us,  because  we  have  received  not  the  spirit 
of  bondage  again  to  fear,  but  the  spirit  of  adoption 
whereby  we  cry,  "Abba,  Father," — how  far  more 
easy  would  it  be  for  us,  in  times  of  disaster,  to  ac- 
cept submissively  what  is  ordered! 

All,  whom  I  am  addressing,  know  that  upon  the 

(393) 


394  SERMONS    ON    THE    CHRISTIAN   LIFE. 

source  from  which  they  come,  depends  the  spirit  in 
which  we  accept  both  what  is  enjoyable  and  what 
is  full  of  paiu.  It  is  hard  for  one  to  receive  even 
favors  from  another  whom  he  dislikes  or  has  reason 
to  distrust;  but  faithful  are  the  wounds  of  a  friend. 
A  child  easily  forgives  the  chastisement  of  a  loving 
parent,  but  will  long  cherish  resentment  against  a 
stranger  who  has  wronged  him.  And  could  we, 
who  have  heard  it  so  often,  and  who  have  so  ear- 
nestly professed  our  faith  in  its  truth,  feel  in  the 
hour  of  calamity,  as  we  should  feel  it,  the  truth  of 
these  inspired  words,  "  Beloved,  now  are  we  the  sons 
of  God,"  how  easy  it  would  be  to  respond  to  all  af- 
fliction: "Father,  thy  will  be  done"! 

The  Apostle  adds  to  the  statement  of  our  present 
relations,  a  statement  concerning  what  is  and  what 
is  not  known  of  our  future  condition.  This  much 
is  known :  that  when  Christ  shall  appear,  we  shall 
be  like  Him;  for  we  shall  see  Him  as  He  is.  All 
that  the  Word  of  God  reveals  of  heaven  may  be  re- 
solved into  this  likeness  of  Christ.  To  attain  the 
stature  of  the  perfect  man — this  is  the  end,  so  far 
as  we  are  concerned,  of  all  labor,  endurance,  and 
worship.  But  there  is  much  that  is  not  revealed 
in  regard  to  our  future  state.  There  are  honors  and 
pleasures  which  it  was  not  possible  to  make  known. 
The  great  Apostle,  caught  up  to  the  third  heavens, 
beheld  in  vision  a  glory  which  he  might  not  reveal. 
"It  doth  not  yet  appear  what  we  shall  be."  The 
prospect  of  this  unspeakably  blessed  state  constitutes 
the  hope  of  the  Christian,  of  which  the  beloved  Apos- 
tle states  the  influence  in  the  text:  "And  every  man 
that  hath  this  hope  in  Him  puritieth  himself,  even 
as  He  is  pure." 

As  thus  understood,  the  text  suggests  for  our  medi- 


HOPE   AND    PURITY.  395 

tation  the  purifying  influence  of  the  hope  of  the  Gos- 
pel. The  subject  is  a  large  one;  and  I  can  not  hope 
to  do  more,  in  the  course  of  a  morning's  sermon, 
than  indicate  a  few  thoughts,  which  I  trust  will 
not  at  once  be  dismissed  from  the  mind,  but  will  be 
cherished  by  all  who  hear  me  as  subjects  of  future  and 
earnest  contemplation.  Let  me  begin  then,  by  call- 
ing your  attention  to  a  well-known  general  truth; 
namely,  that  so  far  as  its  influence  on  conduct  is  con- 
cerned, hope  is  always  more  powerful  than  its  oppo- 
site, despair,  or  even  than  fear.  Indeed,  we  may  put 
despair  out  of  the  calculation.  No  statement  of  the 
kind  is  more  nearly  self-evident,  than  that  melan- 
choly is  the  parent  of  indolence ;  and  the  truth  of  no 
statement  of  the  kind  is  better  attested  by  observa- 
tion. The  comparison  would  better  be  made  between 
hope  and  fear.  And  the  superior  power  of  the  for- 
mer is  seen  at  once  in  the  fact,  that  of  the  two  it  is 
the  more  positive.  In  addition  to  this,  hope — that  is, 
the  expectation  of  some  desired  object — never  para- 
lyzes the  powers,  as  does  fear.  The  soul  is  often 
stunned  by  the  anticipation  of  misery;  but  it  is 
invigorated  by  the  prospect  of  better  things.  And 
further  than  this,  though  fear  may  lead  to  vio- 
lent and  spasmodic  effort,  it  seems  to  be  lacking  in 
power  to  call  forth  effort  that  will  be  sustained  for 
a  long  period ;  the  energy  which  it  inspires  soon 
dies  away.  On  this  account  the  Gospel  seeks  more 
often  to  excite  hope  than  to  awaken  fear.  It  holds 
out  to  man  more  promises  than  threatenings.  Its 
language  is  more  often  that  of  encouragement  than 
that  of  foreboding.  So,  the  Apostle  Paul  writes  to 
the  Church  at  Rome :  "  We  are  saved  by  hope." 
And  so  the  Apostle  John  writes  in  the  text :  "  And 
every  man  which  hath  this  hope  in  Him,  puriiieth 


396  SERMONS    ON    THE    CHRISTIAN   LIFE. 

himself  even  as  He  is  pure."  This  is  the  general 
ground  of  the  Apostles'  statement,  that  purity  is  the 
fruit  of  the  hope  of  purity  in  Christ. 

Perhaps  we  shall  hest  make  the  statement  prac- 
tical, hy  endeavoring  to  answer  three  questions  sug- 
gested by,  and,  as  we  shall  see,  answered  in  the  text. 
What  is  this  "purity,"  which  it  is  the  object  of  the 
Gospel  to  bestow?  What  are  the  sources  of  the 
"hope"  that  it  will  be  ours?  And  what  we  are 
called  to  do,  in  order  to  make  the  hope  effective  in 
our  lives?  For  that  we  are  called  to  do  something, 
is  evident  from  the  words  of  the  text :  "  Every  one 
that  hath  this  hope  in  Him,  purifieth  himself." 

I.  First,  then,  how  shall  we  define  or  describe  this 
purity  of  man?  This  is  not  so  easy  a  question  to 
answer,  as  at  first  sight  it  may  seem  to  be.  For  in 
this  world,  at  least,  purity  or  holiness  is  conceived 
of  as  negative  merely,  as  the  absence  of  positive 
qualities.  When  we  endeavor  to  image  a  perfect 
man,  we  instinctively  think  of  him,  not  as  pos- 
sessing certain  traits,  but  as  wanting  others.  The 
positive,  palpable  thing  in  this  world  is  sin.  It  has 
such  thorough  possession  of  us,  that  it  has  not  only 
blunted  our  moral  perceptions  and  dulled  our  moral 
sensibilities,  and  to  some  extent  perverted  our  moral 
judgments,  but  it  has  also  modified  our  prevailing 
moral  conceptions.  Living  in  a  sinful  atmosphere, 
ourselves  weakened  by  the  presence  of  sin  within  us, 
beholding  its  effects  about  us  on  every  side,  our  first 
conception  of  holiness  is  negative;  we  think  of  it 
simply  as  the  absence  of  sin.  It  is  interesting  to 
observe  that  this  is  the  way  in  which  the  Old  Tes- 
tament most  often  portrays  holiness.  Take,  for  ex- 
ample, the  Ten  Commandments.  The  Ten  Com- 
mandments are  the  best  description  of  holiness  that 


HOPE   AND   PURITY.  397 

the  Hebrews  possessed.  All  of  these,  except  two, 
are  negative  commandments;  and  this  negative  form 
was  adopted  just  because  the  positive  moral  image 
before  the  minds  of  the  Hebrew  people  was  the 
image  of  sin. 

I  need  not  stop  to  show  that  this  negative  con- 
ception of  purity  must  fail  in  power  to  invite  and 
move  men.  The  human  soul  has  never  been  affected 
powerfully  by  mere  negations.  If  holiness  were 
only  the  absence  of  sin,  it  could  not  command  the 
powers  of  the  soul.  Only  positive  beauties  and 
happinesses  command  them.  It  is  not  enough,  in 
order  to  woo  the  victim  of  poverty  from  his  wretched 
abode,  to  dwell  on  the  miseries  and  dangers  of  re- 
maining in  it.  But  once  place  before  his  senses, 
or  before  his  imagination,  another  home  abounding 
in  sources  of  enjoyment,  and  then  offer  it  to  him; 
the  positive  picture  will  do  what  the  negative  pict- 
ure was  unable  to  do.  It  possesses  what  a  great 
preacher  calls,  "  The  expulsive  power  of  a  new  af- 
fection." Man  will  always  be  moved  by  a  prospect 
of  positive  happiness  as  he  can  never  be  moved 
by  a  presentation,  however  eloquent,  of  his  present 
miseries.  For  this  reason,  God  gave  to  the  world 
a  positive  ideal  of  moral  purity;  and  that  it  might 
be  more  positive,  He  made  the  ideal  real,  in  the  Son 
whom  He  gave  not  only  to  die  for,  but  also  to  live 
before  men.  We  do  not  exhaust  the  meaning  of  the 
incarnation  of  the  Son  of  God,  therefore,  when  we 
say  that  He  came  to  bear  the  iniquity  of  the  world. 
Not  at  all.  The  world  needed,  quite  as  much  as  it 
needed  an  atonement,  One  who,  by  his  life,  would 
illustrate  and  make  known  the  positive  beauties  of 
holiness. 

There  are   twro  ways  of   thinking    of   light.     We 


398  SERMONS    ON    THE    CHRISTIAN    LIFE. 

may  think  of  it  simply  as  the  absence  of  darkness. 
This  is  the  negative  view  of  it.  Such  a  conception 
does  not  imply  a  knowledge  of  its  positive  beauties 
and  glories.  But  this  is  not  the  only  way  of  con- 
ceiving of  it.  We  may  think  of  it  as  shining  in  the 
midst  of  the  refracting  mists  and  clouds  of  the 
world ;  and,  conceiving  of  it  thus,  we  think  of  it  as 
possessing  the  many  and  varied  hues  of  the  bow,  that 
spans  the  earth  after  the  storm.  This  will  serve  to 
illustrate  the  difference  between  the  conception  of 
purity  which  he  has,  who  obtains  it  from  the  world 
around  him,  and  the  conception  which  he  has,  whose 
views  of  holiness  are  derived  from  a  devout  con- 
templation of  Christ  himself.  The  one  does  not 
discern  its  positive  and  many-hued  beauties.  The 
other  seeing  the  Light  of  the  world  refracted  by  the 
storms  in  the  midst  of  which  the  Light  shines,  dis- 
cerns that  purity  is  far  more  than  the  absence  of 
sin;  that  there  are  beauties  belonging  to  it,  pos- 
itive graces  of  character,  faith,  virtue,  hope,  meek- 
ness, patience,  love;  and  these  call  forth  the  powers 
of  the  soul  to  secure  them.  You  see,  then,  the  van- 
tage ground  that  we  occupy  who  learn  what  purity 
is,  through  Christ.  You  see  why  the  Apostles  make 
so  much  of  the  life  and  example  of  the  Lord;  why 
it  is  that  the  New  Testament  is  so  full  of  statements 
like:  "For  me  to  live  is  Christ,"  and  "If  any  man 
have  not  the  spirit  of  Christ  he  is  none  of  his;" 
and  of  exhortations  like:  "Let  this  mind  be  in  you 
which  was  also  in  Christ,"  and  "Let  us  run  the  race 
which  is  set  before  us,  looking  unto  Jesus." 

"We  often  thank  God  for  the  gift  of  his  Son.  We 
call  Ilim  the  most  precious  gift  of  the  Father,  the 
One  above  all  others.  We  thank  God  for  Him,  be- 
cause lie  is  the  one  without  whom  atonement  were 


HOPE    AND    PURITY.  399 

impossible.  No  doubt  these  thanksgivings  come 
from  our  hearts.  But  how  much  deeper  would  our 
gratitude  be,  if  we  could  realize  how  much  to  us 
the  person  of  Jesus  is,  as  the  embodiment  of  purity. 
We  "purify  ourselves  as  Christ  is  pure."  Try  for 
one  moment  to  conceive  what  our  views  of  holiness 
would  have  been,  had  He  not  lived  on  earth.  How 
negative,  how  powerless  to  move  the  soul  of  man ! 
We  know,  indeed,  what  the  image  of  goodness  was. 
We  know  what  holiness  meant  to  those,  who,  in  the 
days  of  Rome's  degeneracy,  strove  to  attain  it,  not 
having  known  Christ.  How  full  of  despair  were  the 
lives  of  those  devout  men,  whose  only  conception 
of  purity  was  derived  from  surrounding  corruption! 
How  severe  and  unattractive  their  goodness  !  Breth- 
ren, the  one  adequate  image  of  purity  is  Christ  Jesus 
our  Lord.  And,  therefore,  all  who  would  transform 
their  deformed  lives  must  live  near  to  Him.  In  every 
view  of  Him,  and  in  every  sense  of  the  words :  "  With- 
out Him  we  can  do  nothing."  When  the  perfect 
Christ  is  beyond  the  Christian's  gaze,  the  apprecia- 
tion of  the  beauty  of  holiness  is  lost,  and  the  desire 
for  holiness  dies.  It  is  an  old  and  common-place 
exhortation,  but  one  which  you  need  often  to  hear: 
"Live  as  seeing  Him  who  is  invisible:"  "Run  the 
race  set  before  you,  looking  unto  Jesus." 

II.  Christ,  then,  is  the  image  of  purity  that  the 
disciple  must  keep  constantly  before  him,  if  he  would 
himself  become  so  pure  in  heart  as  to  enjoy  the 
vision  of  God.  But  God  not  only  gives  us  in  Christ 
an  image  of  purity,  but  a  hope  of  purity  as  well. 
"Every  man  that  hath  this  hope  in  Christ  purineth 
himself  even  as  He  is  pure."  What,  let  us  ask,  in 
the  second  place,  is  this  hope? 

I  have  already  spoken  of  the  power  of  hope  as  a 


400  SERMONS    ON    THE    CHRISTIAN    LIFE. 

motive,  especially  of  its  superiority  to  fear;  and  I 
have  called  your  attention  to  the  fact  that  God  who 
knew  what  is  in  man,  in  order  to  enable  him  to 
attain  purity,  gave  to  him  a  hope  in  Christ.  It  re- 
quires no  words  to  convince  us  that  Christ,  as  the 
example  of  purity,  would  do  us  little  good,  if  we  but 
beheld  Him  at  an  unattainable  distance ;  if,  when  He 
was  made  known  to  us,  it  was  also  revealed  that 
we  could  never  become  like  Him.  In  that  case,  the 
revelation  of  the  perfect  Christ  would  be  a  torture 
and  a  curse.  Whoever  shall  be  finally  lost,  will 
endure  no  worse  torment  than  the  vision  of  that 
perfect  holiness  which  he  can  never  attain.  Accord- 
ingly, it  was  not  enough  to  give  to  man  an  ade- 
quate image  of  purity ;  it  was  necessary  also  to  give 
him  a  good  hope,  that  he  could  attain  it.  This  God 
gives  us  in  Christ.  Every  man  that  hath  this  hope 
in  Him  purifieth  himself,  even  as  He  is  pure. 

One  element  of  this  hope  is  to  be  found  in  the 
humanity  of  Christ;  in  the  fact  that  Christ  was  the 
Son  of  Mary  as  well  as  the  Son  of  God,  that  He 
had  a  true  body  and  a  reasonable  soul.  The  ques- 
tion of  the  divinity  of  Christ  is  not  a  more  impor- 
tant question  than  that  of  his  humanity.  I  am  more 
often  tempted  to  doubt  the  latter  than  the  former. 
In  every  age  of  the  Church,  there  have  been  earnest 
men,  who,  while  taking  the  strongest  possible  ground 
with  regard  to  his  Godhood,  have  yet  denied  his  real 
manhood;  who  believe  Him  to  have  been  human 
only  so  far  as  his  body  was  human.  I  believe  the 
view  to  be  not  only  radically  wrong,  but  more  than 
this,  thoroughly  destructive  of  man's  hope  of  holi- 
ness in  Christ.  The  very  first  element  of  that  hope  is 
that  Christ,  a  man  of  like  passions  with  ourselves, 
yet  living  a  perfectly  holy  life,  has  shown   us  that 


HOPE    AND    PURITY.  401 

holiness  is  not  an  impossibility  to  man.  If  Christ 
had  no  human  soul,  I  can  not  understand  wherein 
lies  the  hope  that  his  life  of  perfect  purity  gives  hu- 
man souls.  It  is  no  encouragement  to  me  to  be 
told  that  an  angel  may  maintain  his  purity.  I  derive 
no  hope  of  holiness  from  the  fact  that  a  God  dwell- 
ing in  human  flesh  has  maintained  his  perfection 
against  the  temptations  which  He  in  his  sovereignty 
permitted  to  assail  Him.  My  hope  of  holiness  lies 
in  the  fact  that  our  Lord  took  upon  Him  not  the 
nature  of  angels,  but  the  seed  of  Abraham;  that  He 
became  our  brother;  and  that,  as  our  brother,  with 
wants  and  passions  responding  to  temptations  from 
without,  He  overcame  all  temptation,  and  continued 
holy,  harmless,  undefiled,  and  separate  from  sinners. 
My  hope  of  purity  is  based  on  his  human  life. 

Another  element  of  this  hope  of  purity  in  Christ 
is  to  be  found  in  his  revelation  of  the  forgiving  God. 
Despair  of  attaining  purity  of  soul  often  arises  from 
the  supposed  distance  of  Christ  from  us,  but  oftener 
from  the  fear  of  God.  The  sense  of  justice  in  man, 
as  well  as  the  revelation  which  God  has  made  of 
Himself  in  the  world  around  us,  leads  man  to  despair. 
The  question,  "  How  shall  man  be  just  with  a  holy 
God?"  he  has  been  unable  to  answer.  Despair  of 
purity  has  been  the  result;  and  the  result  of  despair, 
in  its  turn,  has  been  deeper  sin.  Christ  came  to  an- 
swer this  question  of  questions.  He  revealed  God's 
willingness  to  forgive;  and  explained  his  own  life 
and  death  as  the  ground  of  God's  pardon  of  man's 
sin.  He  revealed  the  great  truth,  that  it  was  possi- 
ble for  the  holy  God  to  remember  men's  sins  no 
more  against  them.  He  said  to  men,  "Ask,  and 
ye  shall  receive,"  and  then  taught  them  to  ask  for 
the    forgiveness   of  sins.     We   have   heard    this   so 


402  SERMONS   ON   THE    CHRISTIAN    LIFE. 

often,  that  we  think  of  it  as  little  as  we  do  of  the 
rising  of  the  sun.  But  suppose  that  these  words 
of  Christ  were  hlotted  out;  suppose  that  we  were 
relegated  to  nature  for  an  answer  to  the  question: 
"Can  man  be  just  with  God?"  what  would  be  the 
response  of  the  heavens  or  the  deep?  Would  it  be 
such  as  to  awaken  in  man  a  hope  of  holiness?  No, 
friends.  It  is  because  Christ  has  revealed  the  great 
truths  of  God's  fatherhood  and  of  forgiveness  through 
the  death  of  his  Son,  that  we  dare  to  cherish  any 
hope  of  purity  whatever.  So,  again,  the  hope  that 
purines  is  a  hope  in  Christ. 

There  is  one  other  element  of  this  hope.  It  is 
Christ's  promise  of  divine  aid;  his  promise  of  the 
indwelling  of  God.  Christ  not  only  gives  us  an  ex- 
ample of  purity  in  his  human  life,  and  the  assurance 
of  God's  love  for  us;  but,  in  order  to  make  this 
hope  in  Him  full  assurance,  He  promises  to  every 
one  who  trusts  in  Him,  the  aid  of  God  himself  in 
becoming  pure  even  as  He  is  pure.  We  do  not 
know  much  about  the  indwelling  of  the  Holy  Ghost. 
We  can  not  explain  it.  We  may  not  say  that  we  can 
recognize  his  presence.  But  the  fact  is  certain  as 
the  truth  of  the  words  of  Christ.  No  promise  is  more 
clear  and  definite  than  Christ's  promise  of  the  Holy 
Ghost:  "And  I  will  pray  the  Father  and  He  shall 
send  you  another  Comforter,  He  shall  guide  you  into 
all  truth."  "The  Spirit  helpeth  our  infirmities;" 
"  He  maketh  intercession  within  us." 

These  then  are  the  great  elements  of  the  hope 
iu  Christ,  which,  when  we  possess  it,  both  enables 
and  loads  us  to  purify  ourselves,  as  Christ  is  pure. 
The  humanity  of  our  example,  his  revelation  of 
God's  forgiveness,  and  his  promise  of  the  Holy 
Ghost.    Without  the  hope  thus  constituted,  holiness 


HOPE   AND    PURITY.  403 

were  an  absolute  impossibility.  God  help  us  not 
only  to  rejoice  in  the  hope  given  us,  but  day  by  day 
to  grow  more  grateful  for  the  love  w'hich  has  be- 
stowed it. 

III.  But  finally,  what,  let  us  ask,  are  we  to  do  in 
order  to  secure  the  blessing  of  purity,  which  the  hope 
is  intended  to  confer?  To  answer  this  question,  let 
us  turn  to  the  text.  "  And  every  one  that  hath  this 
hope  in  Him  purifieth  himself  even  as  He  is  pure." 
He  purifieth  himself.  The  responsibility  for  our  holi- 
ness is  at  last  our  own.  The  hope  and  the  help  are 
given  of  God,  and  given  freely.  Without  this  hope 
we  must  die.  All  the  struggles  and  spasms  of  hu- 
manity, without  divine  aid,  must  prove  in  vain.  But 
even  with  this  aid  the  struggle  is  not  to  be  given  up. 
There  is  a  time  for  sitting  down  and  waiting  patiently 
on  God.  But  it  is  not  so  that  we  achieve  holiness;  this 
demands  continued,  earnest,  unremitting  warfare.  God 
sa}Ts  to  us,  by  his  Apostle:  "I  have  given  you  a 
perfect  example.  I  promise  you  forgiveness  of  your 
sins.  My  power  is  ever  at  your  call.  Fear  not;  I 
am  with  you  alway.  But  having  given  you  this  hope, 
the  struggle  must  be  waged  by  your  own  soul.  Every 
man  that  hath  this  hope  purifieth  himself. "  Brethren, 
if,  without  this  help  and  hope  in  Christ,  we  can  do 
nothing,  it  is  not  less  true  that  unless  we  co-work 
with  God,  it  is  impossible  even  for  Him  to  endow 
us  with  the  purity  of  Christ.  Would  that  all  of  us 
might  feel  this  truth  !  We  have  a  great  hope.  We 
have  every  encouragement  in  this  struggle  for  good- 
ness. We  are  the  heirs  of  exceeding  great  and  pre- 
cious promises.  But  the  struggle  is  ours.  "Every 
man  puriiieth  himself."  There  is  a  dependence  on 
God  which  springs  from  spiritual  indolence.  Let  us 
pray  against  it,  as  we  struggle  against  sin.     For  the 


404  SERMONS    ON    THE    CHRISTIAN   LIFE. 

struggle  for  purity  is  no  short  or  easy  conflict.  The 
enemies  are  many  and  mighty.  The  field  on  which 
we  war  is  one  whose  inequalities  are  all  against  us; 
and  we  ourselves  are  weak.  Do  we  not  all  know 
how  true  this  is — how  terribly  true  each  one  of  us 
shall  find  it  to-morrow,  in  business,  in  our  homes, 
in  every  place  and  in  every  circumstance?  Against 
all  these,  we  have  this  hope  in  Christ.  Brethren, 
let  us  hold  fast  by  the  hope,  knowing  that  with- 
out it  we  must  remain  forever  in  captivity  to  sin. 

Every  man  that  hath  this  hope  in  Christ  purifieth 
himself.  Hope  is  the  inspiring  motive.  If  we  have 
no  hope  we  shall  faint  in  our  exertions.  But  where 
is  there  ground  for  hope  of  purity  out  of  Christ? 
Take  this  question  with  you,  and  ponder  and  answer 
it.  Ask  yourself:  "  What  hope  have  I,  apart  from 
Him,  that  I  shall  conquer  sin?"  You  will  be  com- 
pelled to  confess  that  no  other  power  can  break  the 
chains  of  your  captivity  to  sin. 


XXVII. 
CHRIST  A  GIFT,  NOT  A  DEBT. 

"Thanks  be  unto  God  for  his  unspeakable  gift." — II.  Co- 
rinthians ix,  15. 

Commentators  differ  as  to  the  exact  relation,  sus- 
tained by  the  verse,  which  I  have  chosen  for  my  text, 
to  the  passage  which  it  concludes.  In  the  passage, 
the  Apostle  Paul  refers  to  a  collection  which  he 
wishes  taken  in  the  Church  of  Corinth,  for  the  poor 
Christians  of  Jerusalem.  He  had  boasted  at  Philippi, 
of  the  readiness  of  the  Corinthian  Church  to  make 
this  contribution.  He  now  expresses  the  hope,  that 
the  result  of  the  visit  of  Titus  among  them  will 
prove  that  his  boast  was  not  vain.  He  asks  them  to 
remember  both  that  "  God  loveth  a  cheerful  giver," 
and  that  God  is  able  to  make  all  grace  abound  to- 
ward them;  that  they,  having  all-sufficiency  in  all 
things,  may  abound  in  every  good  work.  Some  com- 
mentators, among  whom  is  Calvin,  suppose  that  the 
"  unspeakable  gift,"  for  which  Paul  here  gives  thanks, 
is  that  grace  of  giving,  wrought  in  them  by  the  Holy 
Ghost,  by  which  Gentile  Christians  in  Greece  were 
led — or  would  be  led,  as  he  hoped — to  sympathize 
with  and    make  sacrifices  for  Jewish  Christians   in 

(40o) 


406  SERMONS    ON    THE    CHRISTIAN    LIFE. 

Jerusalem;  separated,  though  they  were,  by  both 
difference  of  race  and  the  broad  expanse  of  the  Medi- 
terranean Sea.  And  certainly,  this  grace  of  giving  was 
an  "unspeakable  gift;"  a  gift  past  the  understanding 
of  the  times  in  which  it  was  first  manifested.  What 
possible  interest  could  Gentiles  have  in  Jews,  except 
the  interest  of  enmity ;  or,  if  Gentiles  could  sympa- 
thize with  Jews  attached  to  them  by  ties  of  neighbor- 
hood, what  possible  ground  could  be  imagined  for  the 
sympathy  of  Gentiles  in  Greece  with  Jews  so  far  re- 
moved in  space  and  circumstance,  as  were  those  who 
lived  in  Jerusalem.  Such  giving  was  a  new  thing  in 
the  world.  It  was  a  product  of  the  new  religion. 
Roman  civilization  had  never  produced  it.  The 
heathen  intelligence  could  not  understand  the  motives 
that  impelled  to  it.  It  was,  as  I  have  said,  a  distinctly 
Christian  grace  ;  and  the  great  Apostle  to  the  Gen- 
tiles— accustomed  to  make  large  generalizations,  see- 
ing in  the  exercise  of  this  grace  of  giving  the  proph- 
ecy of  the  coming  day,  when  neither  national  nor 
racial  distinctions  would  prove  barriers  to  the  out- 
flow of  human  sympathy,  seeing  in  it  the  harbinger 
of  the  day  when  "man  to  man  would  brother  be" — 
could  not  restrain  his  "  running  pen,"  from  writing 
the  grateful  exclamation  :  "  Thanks  be  to  God  for 
his  unspeakable  gift." 

Other  commentators  take  a  somewhat  different 
view.  They  point  to  the  fact  that  Paul  was  not 
unaccustomed  to  give  vent  to  his  active  religious 
emotions  in  outbursts  of  thanksgiving,  even  during 
the  process  of  exact  and  subtle  argumentation.  And 
this,  they  say,  is  an  instance  of  his  general  habit. 
"  This,"  says  Dr.  Charles  Hodge,  "  is  the  more  natural 
interpretation;  because  it  is  Paul's  custom,  when 
speaking  either  of  the  feeble  love,  or  of  the  trivial 


CHRIST    A    GIFT,    NOT    A    DEBT.  407 

gifts  of  believers  to  one  another,  to  refer  in  contrast 
to  the  infinite  love  and  unspeakable  gift  of  God  in 
Christ  to  us.  The  passage,  therefore,  ought  to  stand, 
as  I  have  no  doubt  the  vast  majority  of  the  readers 
of  the  Bible  understand  it,  as  an  outburst  of  grati- 
tude to  God  for  the  gift  of  his  Son." 

For  the  purposes  of  this  discourse,  it  is  not  neces- 
sary to  make  choice  between  the  two  interpreta- 
tions, which  differ  formally  rather  than  really.  For, 
if  we  suppose  that  Paul  referred  immediately  to  the 
grace  of  beneficence,  he  referred  to  it  as  one  of  the 
results  of  the  gift  of  Christ  to  man.  And  if  he 
had  immediately  in  mind,  the  bestowment  on  man  of 
the  Son  of  God  as  a  Redeemer,  he  was  led  to  the 
expression  of  his  gratitude,  by  the  thought  that  among 
his  benedictions  is  this;  that  He  has  wrought  the 
new  grace  of  benevolence  in  the  heart  of  his  dis- 
ciples. Whichever  interpretation,  therefore,  we  adopt, 
the  text  is  the  expression  of  Paul's  gratitude  to  God 
for  the  gift  of  his  Son.  With  this  understanding 
of  its  meaning,  I  haveVhosen  it,  as  bringing  before 
us  a  subject  of  meditation  appropriate  to  the  week 
during  which  our  thoughts  will  dwell  on  the  Sac- 
rament of  the  Lord's  Supper.  In  that  ordinance, 
we  shall  remove  from  our  minds  all  subordinate 
religious  themes;  and  in  our  hearts  all  other  emo- 
tions will  yield  to  that  of  gratitude.  And  the  sub- 
jeet  alike  of  our  meditations  and  of  our  thanks- 
giving wTill  be  the  gift  of  God's  Son;  the  gift  in 
whom  all  others  meet  and  from  whom  all  others 
flow. 

That  Jesus  Christ  is  a  gift;  that  He  is  an  un- 
speakable gift;  and  that  we  should  give  thanks 
for  Him;  these  are  the  three  simple  but  profouud 
thoughts,  on  which  the  text  invites  us  to  dwell. 


408  SERMONS    ON    TIIE    CHRISTIAN    LIFE. 

I.  And,  first,  Jesus  Christ,  and,  therefore,  his  re- 
demption is  a  gift. 

If  Christ  did  not  stand  in  the  mind  of  the  Apostle 
as  a  bestowment,  why  did  He  give  thanks  to  God? 
If  He  was  sent  as  something  owed  to  man  ;  if  He 
came  in  ohedience  to  the  impulse  of  the  divine  justice, 
gratitude  to  God  was  not  the  appropriate  emotion 
with  which  to  meet  and  receive  Him.  Justice  may 
call  forth  our  adoration,  as  every  moral  quality  must, 
when  revealed  in  the  perfection  in  which  it  exists  in 
the  divine  mind.  It  may  awaken  our  awe;  for  all 
moral  qualities  possess  sublimity.  But  we  do  not 
thank  God  for  his  justice;  for  it  is  of  the  nature 
of  justice  that  it  is  owed.  Your  heart  does  not 
really  overflow  with  gratitude,  when  a  debtor  dis- 
charges his  obligation  to  you,  or  when  a  judge 
endeavors  fairly,  that  is,  justly,  to  determine  a  con- 
troversy to  which  you  are  a  party.  Justice  is  your 
right;  this  you  may  demand;  this  nothing  can 
take  from  you.  You  may  be  the  creature  of  a  day; 
you  may  be  the  most  incorrigible  of  sinners;  your 
heart  may  be  deceitful  above  all  things,  and  des- 
perately wicked;  and  your  hands  may  have  been 
active  in  violating  every  commandment  of  the  dec- 
alogue; still  you  have  a  right  to  demand  that  the 
Almighty  will  be  just  in  all  his  dealings  with  you; 
you  have  a  right  to  demand  that  not  a  flaw  of  un- 
righteousness shall  characterize  them ;  and  when  this 
has  been  done  you  owe  Him  no  thanks;  because  jus- 
tice with  Him,  or  any  being,  is  not  a  matter  that  lies 
properly  within  the  province  of  the  choice. 

This  fact, theologians  have  sometimes  expressed  by 
the  statement,  that  justice  is  an  attribute  of  God's 
moral  nature,  while  mercy  is  a  trait  of  his  moral 
character.     That  is  to  say,  if  there  is  a  moral  being 


CHRIST  A  GIFT,  NOT  A  DEBT.  409 

on  the  throne  of  the  universe,  He  must  be  just.  We 
can  not  doubt  it.  The  constitution  of  the  universe 
reveals  it  and  our  own  consciences  affirm  it.  There 
is,  indeed,  not  a  physical,  but  a  moral  imperative, 
binding  God  not  to  do  unrighteousness.  But  there 
is  no  such  moral  imperative,  binding  God  to  go  be- 
yond justice,  and  to  do  all  that  mercy  suggests.  If 
there  were  such  an  imperative,  mercy  would  no 
longer  be  mercy,  but  something  else.  Hence  the 
moral  law  does  not  command  mercy.  We  are  com- 
manded to  give  God  his  due,  and  to  give  their  dues 
to  our  fellow-men.  But  mercy,  we  are  not  com- 
manded but  besought  to  exhibit  and  to  exercise. 
Thus,  as  a  living  theologian  has  pointed  out,*  the 
great  dramatist  was  right,  when,  in  the  comedy  of 
the  "Merchant  of  Venice,"  he  represented  the  Court 
as  powerless  to  compel  Sbylock  to  be  merciful  to 
Antonio,  and  to  forego  the  exact  forfeiture  nomi- 
nated in  the  bond;  and  right  also  when  he  made 
Portia,  the  lawyer,  say — 

"The  quality  of  mercy  is  not  strained: 
It  droppeth  as  the  gentle  dew  from  heaven 
Upon  the  place  beneath." 

It  is  for  this  reason,  also,  that  while  one  may  con- 
fidently predict  that  the  Moral  Being,  governing  the 
Universe,  will  be  just,  no  one  may  confidently  pre- 
dict that  He  will  be  merciful.  I  read,  during  my 
summer  vacation,  translations  of  all  the  plays  of  the 
greatest  of  the  Greek  dramatic  poets.  Throughout 
all  of  them  is  the  awful  thought,  not  so  much  ex- 
pressed, as  implied,  that  the  Fate  above  the  Deities 
will  be  just;    following   holiness   with    reward,  but 

*Shedd:  "Sermons  to  the  Natural  Man."  See  the  sermon, 
"The  exercise  of  mercy  optional  with  God." 


410  SERMONS    ON    THE    CHRISTIAN    LIFE. 

pursuing  sin  with  slow,  it  may  be,  but  with  certain 
vengeance.  But  in  the  pages  of  the  lofty  and  pro- 
found ./Eschylus  I  find  no  hint  that  Fate  is  merci- 
ful. And  what  are  the  great  false  religions  of  the 
world — the  religions  that  have  lasted  for  ages — but 
religions  of  fear?  And  why  are  they  religions  of 
fear,  but  that,  along  with  the  consciousness  of  sin, 
there  has  always  been  the  confident  expectation  that 
God  will  be  remorselessly  and  inexorably  just? 

Attempts  there  have  been,  to  prove  that  mercy 
and  justice  may  be  resolved  into  one  attribute;  to 
prove  that  however  different  they  may  be  in  their 
manifestations,  at  bottom  they  are  one.  But  the 
attempt  has  never  been  made  elsewhere  than  in  a 
Christian  land.  The  mistake  has  never  taken  pos- 
session of  minds,  except  those  prepared  for  it  by 
their  knowledge  that  God  has  revealed  himself  to 
be  merciful.  And  the  theory,  even  in  a  Christian 
land,  was  never  widely  influential.  Justice  and 
mercy  can  not  be  resolved  into  one  attribute,  until 
it  can  be  shown,  and  it  never  can  be  shown,  that 
the  condemnation  of  a  criminal,  and  the  pardon 
of  the  same  criminal,  are  the  offspring  of  the  same 
intuition.  Therefore,  though  no  special  revelation 
was  needed  to  show  God  to  be  just,  a  special  rev- 
elation was  needed  to  show  God  to  be  merciful. 
Men  know  Him  to  be  just;  the  physical  laws  of 
the  universe,  the  idea  of  moral  government,  and 
their  own  hearts  all  proclaim  it.  But  how  could 
men  know  that  He  is  merciful,  unless  the  heavens 
had  been  opened,  and  a  revelation,  such  as  we  pos- 
sess in  Jesus  Christ,  had  been  made  to  the  sinful 
and  despairing  race? 

It  is  at  this  point  that  we  grasp  the  exact  sig- 
nificance of  the  word  "gift,"  as  applied  to  our  Lord 


CIIRIST    A    GIFT,   NOT   A    DEBT.  411 

Jesus  Christ.  "  Thanks  be  to  God  for  his  unspeak- 
able gift"  He  is  at  once  the  revelation  and  the  em- 
bodiment  of  the  mercy  of  God;  of  that  trait  of  char- 
acter which  leads  the  Most  High  to  do  more,  un- 
speakably more  for  man  than  He  owes.  And,  there- 
fore, Jesus  Christ  must  be  accepted  as  a  gift,  or  he  is 
not  accepted  at  all.  You  and  I  must  come  to  the 
cross  of  Christ  confessing  that  our  redemption  is  not 
a  debt  owed  to  us.  This  is  the  first  condition  of  sal- 
vation. This  is  the  meaning  of  conviction  of  sin. 
There  is  no  such  thing  as  conviction  of  sin,  if  God 
owes  forgiveness  to  the  sinner.  How  can  the  soul 
be  bowed  down  before  the  Most  High  God,  if,  on 
any  ground  and  in  any  sense,  it  is  true  that  God 
owes  salvation  to  him?  The  same  truth  is  involved 
in  the  exercise  of  repentance.  Repentance  would 
be  utterly  out  of  place,  were  any  obligation  laid  on 
God  to  bestow  redemption  on  man.  And  so  with 
prayer;  for  prayer  is  not  a  demand  for  that  which 
is  ours  of  right;  it  is  a  supplication  for  favors  that 
are  beyond  our  right.  Thus  redemption  stands  or 
falls,  and  the  Christian  life  stands  or  falls,  as  Christ 
is  accepted  as  a  gift  or  as  a  debt.  Thus  does  this 
truth  take  its  proper  place  at  the  very  forefront  of 
Christian  experience.  It  is  the  vestibule  which  we 
must  enter,  in  order  to  pass  into  the  Holy  of  Holies, 
where  God   reveals  Himself  as  our  Redeemer. 

I  am  aware  that  doctrinal  discussion  is,  by  some, 
regarded  as  entirely  inappropriate  to  a  season,  so 
tender  as  that  which  this  day  we  begin.  But  relig- 
ious emotion  is  grounded  on  religions  truth ;  and  re- 
ligious truth  must  be  accepted;  and  to  be  accepted  it 
must  be  understood.  And  I  know  no  point  on  which, 
in  these  days  especially,  we  are  so  apt  to  be  mis- 
taken or  confused,  as  we  are  on  this  very  point,  that 


412  SERMONS    ON    THE    CHRISTIAN   LIFE. 

our  blessed  Lord  as  a  Redeemer  was  not  owed  to  the 
race,  and  is  not  now  owed  to  a  single  soul.  From 
the  incarnation  to  the  redemption  of  the  last  spul 
received  into  glory,  salvation  is  of  grace.  And  the 
anthem  most  appropriate,  both  to  earth  and  to 
heaven,  is  one  composed  in  the  spirit  of  the  great 
Apostle's  devout  exclamation  :  "  Thanks  be  to  God 
for  his  unspeakable  gift." 

II.  The  Apostle  characterizes  this  great  gift  of 
God  by  an  adjective  that  may  well  employ  for  a 
time  our  thoughts.  Christ  is  not  only  a  gift  of  God; 
He  is  the  unspeakable  gift. 

But  if  He  is  unspeakable,  how  am  I,  by  employ- 
ing speech,  to  describe  what  He  is,  and  what  He  has 
done  and  will  do  for  man?  How,  in  other  words,  is 
a  preacher  to  go  about  describing  that  of  which  the 
chief  trait  is  that  it  is  indescribable.  Of  course,  words 
must  fail  here,  and  not  words  only,  but  thought. 
Time  is  too  short,  eternity  alone  will  suffice  for  us 
adequately  to  learn  and  adequately,to  express  the  bless- 
edness that  is  in  Him,  in  whom  are  hid  all  the  treas- 
ures of  power  and  wisdom ;  who  is  Himself  the  full- 
ness of  the  Godhead  bodily.  The  most  that  we  can 
hope  to  do,  is  to  say  certain  things  which  will  deep- 
en our  impression  of  the  truth,  that  He  is  indeed  an 
unspeakable  gift. 

And,  I  ask  you,  first,  to  endeavor  to  imagine  the 
state  of  the  world  without  Christ.  Suppose  that  He 
had  never  been  given  to  man.  This  seems  an  easy 
thing  to  do,  and  yet  I  suppose  no  harder  task  was 
ever  proposed  to  the  imagination.  It  is  as  hard  to 
form  a  picture  of  the  world  as  it  would  have  been  had 
Christ  not  come,  as  it  would  be  to  imagine  the  phys- 
ical earth  without  the  shining  of  the  sun.  For  the 
earth  owes  not  more,  certainly,  to  the  light  and  heat 


CHRIST    A   GIFT,   NOT    A    DEBT.  413 

of  the  centre  of  our  system,  than  man  does  to  the 
incarnation  of  the  Son  of  God.  If  you  can  imagine 
the  confusion  worse  confounded,  the  utter  wreck 
of  the  planet  on  which  we  live  if  the  sun  were  ut- 
terly removed,  you  can  begin  to  appreciate  what  the 
race  would  have  been,  had  God  not  bestowed  upon 
us  the  unspeakable  gift  of  his  Son. 

Or  if  this  method  seems  too  barren,  because  neg- 
ative, let  us  try  one  more  positive.  Let  us  recall 
the  great  truth,  that  the  gift  is  divine,  and  that  his 
sacrifice  was  a  real  sacrifice  of  divinity.  I  say  that 
Jesus  of  Nazareth  was  divine.  I  mean  by  this,  that 
He  is  God,  co-equal  with  the  Father  and  the  Spirit. 
If  this  is  not  true,  the  Bible  is  not  true.  If  this  is  not 
taught,  nothing  is  taught  in  the  word  of  God.  Had 
the  writers  of  the  New  Testament  used  the  utmost 
care  to  select  words  that  would  express  their  belief 
that  the  Son  of  Mary  is  God  over  all,  blessed  for- 
ever more;  what  more  could  they  have  done,  than 
has  been  done  by  them?  Is  there  any  attribute  of 
Deity  that  they  withhold  from  Him  ?  Is  there  any 
work  competent  to  Deity  alone,  that  He  does  not 
perform?  Is  there  any  honor  worthy  to  be  paid 
alone  to  the  Supreme  Ruler  of  the  universe,  that 
they  do  not  assert  should  be  paid  to  Him  equally 
with  the  Father  and  the  Holy  Ghost?  I  know  of 
none.  In  all  the  great  creeds  and  confessions  of  the 
Church,  this  truth  stands  out  like  a  mountain  against 
the  evening  sky.  Christ  is  God;  the  gift  is  an  un- 
speakable gift,  because  Jesus  of  Nazareth  is  equal 
with  the  Father. 

And  now,  how  is  this  divinity  given  to  man  ? — for 
it  is  as  a  gilt  that  we  are  to  regard  Christ.  I  answer, 
that  when  the  Word  became  flesh  and  dwelt  among 
us,  the  divinity  that  was  his,  though  used  for  man,  was 


414  SERMONS    ON    TUE    CHRISTIAN    LIFE. 

never  used  for  Himself.  Being  equal  with  God,  the 
Son  of  Man  never  employed  his  divinity  in  his  own 
behalf,  but  always  for  the  world  He  came  to  save. 
This  is  a  remarkable  fact.  It  is  not  only  that  Jesus 
was  divine,  but  that  his  divinity,  during  his  whole 
earthly  life,  was  wholly  given  to  man.  Read  the  Gos- 
pels and  see  how  true  this  is.  There  were  displays 
enough  of  his  divine  power,  when  on  earth,  to  sat- 
isfy every  earnest  searcher  after  truth  that  He  was 
all  that  He  claimed  to  be.  He  raised  the  dead, 
He  stilled  the  tempest,  He  healed  the  sick,  the  deaf, 
the  blind.  All  this  He  did,  not  by  a  power  that 
came  and  went,  but  that  was  his  inherently.  But  He 
never  employed  it  for  Himself.  Divine  though  He 
was,  He  accepted  our  limitations.  He  was  born  of 
a  woman — born  under  the  law.  He  was  subject  to 
his  parents,  and  worked  at  his  father's  trade — sup- 
porting Himself,  not  by  miracles,  but  by  hard  labor. 
Thus  He  lived  for  thirty-three  years;  and  though 
tempted  again  and  again  to  exert  his  divinity  for 
himself,  He  never  did.  He  emptied  Himself;  He 
gave  Himself  utterly  for  you  and  me.  Take  up 
the  crises  of  his  life — like  the  temptation.  Do 
you  doubt  his  divine  power,  who  took  five  loaves 
and  two  small  fishes  and  with  them  fed  five  thou- 
sand? But  He  refuses  to  command  the  stones  to  be 
made  bread  for  Himself.  Hear  the  shouts  of  the  peo- 
ple :  "  Hosanna  to  the  Son  of  David  ! "  Do  you  doubt 
his  power  to  seize  Jerusalem,  who,  a  few  days  be- 
fore, called  Lazarus  back  from  the  under-world  to  his 
earthly  life?  And  yet  He  docs  not  seize  Jerusalem  ; 
but  is  led  as  a  lamb  to  the  slaughter.  The  Roman 
soldiers  mock  Him  with  reed  and  purple,  and  bind 
about  his  aching  brow  a  crown  of  thorns;  and  He 
knows  that  legions  of  angelic  hosts  are  at  his  com- 


CHRIST    A    GIFT,    NOT   A    DEBT.  415 

mand.  But  He  submits,  until  he  cries  "It  is  fin- 
ished." Jesus  was  God,  and  had  the  power  of 
God;  but  that  power  being  given  to  man,  it  was 
never  used  for  Himself.  And  if  the  power  that  be- 
longs alone  to  the  Almighty  is  unspeakable, — our 
Redeemer,  because  He  used  it  for  man  alone,  is  an 
unspeakable  gift. 

We  must  add  to  the  gift  of  his  divinity  the  gift 
of  his  human  nature  also.  If  He  did  not  employ 
his  divine  power  for  Himself,  neither  did  He,  as  a 
man,  live  or  die  for  Himself.  I  do  not  make  this 
statement,  at  this  time,  as  a  theological  truth.  It 
is  true,  that  Christ's  life  and  death  constitute  the 
one  perfect  sacrifice  to  the  holiness  of  God  for  the 
sins  of  men.  He,  who  knew  no  sin,  was  made  sin 
for  us,  that  we  might  be  made  the  righteousness  of 
God  in  Him.  This  relation  of  the  life  and  death  of 
Christ  to  the  law  of  God,  announced  and  elaborated 
in  the  inspired  epistles  of  the  New  Testament,  can 
not  be  too  often  or  too  deeply  pondered.  But  this  is 
not  the  aspect  of  the  truth  on  which  just  now  I  in- 
sist. Not  only  from  the  epistles  in  which  Christ's 
life  is  explained,  but  from  the  Gospels  also  in  which 
Christ's  life  is  narrated,  it  is  clear  that  every  hour 
and  act  and  thought  of  his  human  life  were  given  to 
man.  It  is,  indeed,  a  difficult  thing  to  separate  the 
divinity  from  the  humanity  of  our  Lord  in  our 
thoughts  of  them,  blent  as  they  are  in  a  single  per- 
sonality. Great  is  the  mystery  of  godliness,  God 
manifest  in  the  flesh.  But  this  much  is  clear ;  that 
wc  do  not  include  all  the  elements  of  this  great  gift, 
when  we  say  that  Christ  never  used  his  divinity  for 
Himself.  It  is  also  true,  that  He  never  employed 
his  humanity  for  Himself.  All  his  human  acts,  as 
well  as  all  his  miracles,  were  performed   under  the 


416  SERMONS    ON    THE    CHRISTIAN   LIFE. 

sovereign  control  of  a  single  aim ;  and  that  aim  was 
the  redemption  of  men.  All  that  He  did  as  a  man, 
He  did  in  order  that  men  might  not  perish,  but  might 
have  everlasting  life. 

One  aspect  of  this  truth,  as  I  have  said,  is  brought  out 
in  the  Epistles;  another  is  presented  in  the  Gospels. 
It  is  the  Gospel  view  of  it,  on  which  I  wish  now  to 
speak.  Christ,  as  there  represented,  was  devoted  to 
this  single  aim,  as  never  mother  was  devoted  to  her 
child.  For  this  He  prayed  and  wept  and  besought  both 
God  and  man;  for  this  He  had  not  where  to  lay  his 
head ;  for  this  He  endured  the  contradiction  of  enemies, 
the  misinterpretation  of  friends,  and  the  hidings  of 
his  Father's  face ;  for  this  He  trod  the  wine-press 
alone.  This  redemption  of  men,  as  the  ruling  motive 
of  his  life,  was  never  suffered  to  fall  below  conscious- 
ness. It  attended  Him  on  every  journey;  it  deter- 
mined every  conversation ;  it  was  the  theme  of  every 
address ;  it  led  Him  into  the  company  of  scribes  and 
Pharisees,  and  of  publicans  and  sinners ;  it  made 
Him  many-sided,  as  it  made  Him  a  man  of  one  idea. 
The  idea  that  men  might  not  perish  but  might  have 
everlasting  life,  ruled  Him  as  no  other  idea  ever 
ruled  another  man.  It  subordinated  to  itself  all 
other  purposes  and  loves  and  aims,  and  determined 
the  life  of  his  true  body  and  reasonable  soul,  more 
thoroughly  even  than  ambition  moved  Satan,  when 
he  made  war  in  heaven.  Brethren,  it  is  as  we  thus 
unite  Christ's  divinity  and  Christ's  humanity,  and 
recall  how  utterly  each  was  given  to  man,  that  we 
begin  to  appreciate  the  Apostle's  words:  "Thanks 
be  to  God  for  his  unspeakable  gift." 

But  there  are  other  methods  by  which  the  pro- 
priety of  this  great  adjective  "unspeakable"  may  be 
made    evident.      Consider,   again,  that    the  gift    of 


CHRIST    A    GIFT,   NOT   A    DEBT.  417 

Christ  is  the  gift  not  only  of  his  divinity  and  hu- 
manity, but  of  every  other  gift  of  God.  Because  He 
has  given  Christ,  He  gives  all  the  rest.  We  are  ac- 
customed, in  our  ordinary  conversation,  to  make  a 
distinction  between  the  blessings  of  the  providence 
and  the  blessings  of  the  grace  of  God.  The  latter 
we  speak  of  as  coming  to  us  through  Christ.  But, 
brethren,  through  whom  do  the  others  come?  Are 
they  not  ours  because  Christ  is  ours?  Why,  do  you 
suppose,  is  this  world  upheld  in  existence?  Why 
do  day  and  night  return  with  ceaseless  fidelity  ? 
Why  has  God  not  left  Himself  without  a  witness  in 
the  world  in  giving  us  fruitful  seasons,  and  filling  our 
hearts  with  food  and  gladness?  If  I  read  the  Word 
of  God  aright,  we  are  taught  to  pray  for  daily  bread 
in  the  name  of  Christ,  as  really  as  for  the  forgive- 
ness of  sin  and  the  indwelling  of  the  Holy  Ghost. 
And  if  I  understand  the  doctrine  of  providence,  there 
is  a  beneficent  providence,  just  because  God  has  given 
Christ  to  be  the  Redeemer  of  the  world. 

Or  again,  in  illustrating  the  propriet}^  of  this  great 
word  "  unspeakable,"  consider  the  fullness  of  the 
spiritual  blessings  that  are  ours  in  Christ.  I  mean 
by  fullness,  the  rounded,  full-orbed  character  of 
the  salvation  that  is  ours  in  Him.  Christ  is  a  Re- 
deemer, because  He  saves  the  whole  man.  We 
are  apt  to  attach  a  very  narrow  meaning  to  the 
word  salvation.  The  fact  that  strikes  us  most  for- 
cibly, is  our  guilt  before  God;  and  we  call  Christ 
a  Saviour,  chiefly  because  He  saves  us  from  the  im- 
mediate  consequences  of  our  guilt;  because  "there 
is  no  more  condemnation  to  them  that  are  in  Christ 
Jesus."  But  this  is  a  very  inadequate  view  of  sal- 
vation. There  is  not  a  faculty  of  mind  that  He  does 
not  rcinvigorate;  there  is  not  a  power  of  our  bodies 


418  SERMONS    ON    THE    CHRISTIAN    LIFE. 

that  He  will  not  endow  with  perpetual  youth;  there 
is  not  a  want  for  which  He  does  not  provide;  there 
is  not  a  sorrow  that  He  does  not  meet  with  everlast- 
ing consolation;  there  is  not  a  capacity  of  our  be- 
ing for  good  and  for  happiness,  for  whose  satisfac- 
tion throughout  eternity,  He  has  not  made  most 
certain  and  abundant  provision.  How  are  we  to 
describe  such  a  Redeemer?  What  adjective  in  our 
vocabulary  will  positively  qualify  Him?  We  can 
only  do  what  Paul  did;  we  must  content  ourselves 
with  mere  negation.  We  can  only  say:  "Thanks 
be  to  God  for  his  unspeakable  gift." 

I  know  that  I  have  not  exhausted  the  subject,  for 
it  is  inexhaustible.  I  know  that  I  have  been  very 
inadequate  in  my  method;  but  what  method  would 
be  adequate?  It  is  just  this  inadequacy  of  speech 
and  thought,  that  Paul  means  to  assert  when  he  em- 
ploys the  word.  I  have  tried  to  show  that  Christ's 
divinity  was  given  to  us,  and  that  his  human  life 
was  a  thorough  sacrifice  for  us;  that  He  not  only 
gives  us  Himself,  but  is  the  source  of  every  other 
gift  of  God  ;  and  that  the  gifts  that  flow  to  us  through 
Him  meet  us  at  every  point,  and  provide  for  our 
highest  possible  happiness  throughout  eternity.  And 
yet,  how  poor,  how  feeble,  how  inadequate  a  pres- 
entation !  And,  brethren,  it  would  be  poor  and  in- 
adequate were  an  angel  to  take  up  the  theme,  and 
chant  Christ's  praises  in  celestial  strains.  For  a 
finite  being  can  not  grasp  the  infinite;  a  created 
mind  can  not  fathom  the  love  that  passeth  knowl- 
edge. At  last,  he,  like  Paul,  could  say  no  more 
than  you  can  say,  than  I  have  tried  to  say  to-day : 
"Thanks  be  to  God  for  his  unspeakable  gift." 

III.  And  thus  confessing  our  inability,  and  that 
of  all  created  intelligence,  I  pass  to  the  last  thought 


CHRIST    A    GIFT,    NOT   A    DEBT  419 

suggested  by  the  text :  "  Thanks  be  to  God  for  his 
unspeakable  gift." 

As  Paul  can  not  describe  the  gift,  so  he  does  not 
attempt  to  measure  the  gratitude  due  to  God  for  its 
bestowment.  It  does,  indeed,  seem  a  lame  and  impo- 
tent conclusion  to  the  treatment,  however  poor,  of 
such  a  theme,  that  we  should  close  with  a  term  so 
ordinary,  so  often  and  so  carelessly  employed  as 
this  term  "  thanks."  Is  it  not  a  striking  commen- 
tary on  the  impossibility  of  our  doing  anything  for 
God,  that  with  the  whole  sweep  of  Christ's  redemp- 
tion in  view,  we  can  only  employ  a  word,  which, 
more  perhaps  than  any  other,  we  use  as  meaning  al- 
most nothing  at  all  ?  How  often  we  repeat  this  word 
"thanks"  without  discrimination,  without  meaning! 
It  leaps  to  our  lips,  as  a  matter  of  course.  Most 
often  we  forget  that  we  said  it.  But  this  is  all  that 
we  can  say  to  God  for  his  unspeakable  gift.  And 
yet,  poor  through  constant  and  unmeaning  employ- 
ment as  the  word  is,  the  thing  that  it  expresses  is 
the  best  and  the  costliest  offering  we  can  make.  For 
gratitude  is  protean  in  its  expressions.  It  includes 
all  that  we  are.  It  involves  the  bestowment  of  our- 
selves on  God.  And  so,  in  view  of  our  subject,  let 
each  of  us  ask  himself:  Am  I  grateful?  Does  my 
heart  beat  with  real  gratitude  to  God  for  the 
bestowment  of  a  benediction  I  had  no  right  and  no 
reason,  other  than  his  mercy,  to  expect?  Brethren, 
let  us  ask  this  question  on  our  knees,  in  the  solitude 
of  our  places  of  secret  prayer.  And  having  asked 
this  question,  let  us  not  dare  to  shrink  from  another, 
still  more  searching:  "How  am  I  manifesting  my 
gratitude?"  When  you  shall  ask  that  question  sin- 
cerely, doubt  not  that  there  will  rise  before  you  the 
painful  vision   of  opportunities  neglected,  and  work 


420  SERMONS    ON    THE    CHRISTIAN    LIFE. 

unfinished,  and  souls  uncared  for,  and  time  moving 
swiftly  on. 

Christ  is  a  gift,  an  unspeakable  gift;  but  just  be- 
cause He  is  a  gift,  He  must  be  accepted  before  He 
can  be  a  blessing.  He  may  be  rejected.  He  may,  if 
not  positively  rejected,  be  neglected.  To  reject  or 
to  neglect  Him,  is  to  place  one's  self  under  the  Law : 
and  the  declaration  of  the  Law  is  this :  "  The  soul 
that  sinneth,  it  shall  die." 


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